Saturday, January 29, 2011

The Gem Shows...

Most of today was devoted to Gem Shows. We made a foray to the Tucson Museum of Art and Old Town Artisans, but half the group made a beeline back to the African Village to shop more in the afternoon.

If you've never experienced the Gem Shows in Tucson, it's really unique. There are dozens of shows, all with different things. Some of the pieces of crystal are easily a story tall. There are crates of stones filled with water and some with oil, bringing out the true colors and patterns of some of the more porous and unpolished stones.

Anything can be found here. From ancient dinosaur bones, to bathroom sinks made from carved fossils. To the right and above are Meryl and Doriot looking at trilobites and ammonites frozen in time and stone.

I was worried that we wouldn't be able to make it back to the African village, but we were lucky enough to be able to go. It's a dry and dusty parking lot, that is covered with tents filled with beads and artifacts from Africa. I love all the statuary and the interesting carvings with nails and found objects.

What a great beginning to the Gem Shows!

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