[Jewelry making - Article 00347] - Re: [Orchid] [Tucson 2008] General information

[Hans Durstling]

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Hi All,

    Just a brief report, over coffee and donut breakfast in the hotel
    room. It's incredibly intense this year, running around, getting this
    getting that, in the course of shepherding the Learning Center at the
    Electric Park show (electricparklearningcenter.com). 

    Some of the highlights so far have been Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup
    coming in to facet cut a stone in public at the Learning Center last
    Monday. It was bitterly cold day (at least for the Tucson context).
    So that entailed a run to the hardware store to get a heat lamp which
    we jury rigged onto the Foredom flexhaft mast. You can't facet with
    freezing fingers. The adhesive holding the stone to the dop then let
    go - also due to the cold. A new one was glued on. The Mayor cut with
    brave good humor. In fact chill notwithstanding you could tell he was
    having fun. He told us he's spent three years in Alice Springs
    Australia. That led to a number of opal stories. His executive
    assistant told me, "He really does enjoy this stuff. Sometimes my
    biggest problem is to drag him away from it." So that was pleasant,
    to know that in the Mayor of Tucson, we had a gem guy. 

    Orchidian Wayne Emery's presentation on jewelry photography (Wayne
    will be doing more of these at the Learning Center; check the
    schedule on the web) was another full house presentation. Quite a
    few marveled at the ingenuity of his low cost light box and the
    simplicity of the camera stand. 

    The presentation that really stands out for me is British gemmologist
    Colin Winter's introduction to gem spectroscopy. What a delight that
    was. Enthusiastic, full of puckish humor, simple, down to earth and
    yet crammed with detail after detail. I'd always been intimidated by
    spectroscopy. No more. I bought a spectroscope, and Winter's book "A
    Students Guide to Spectroscopy" has been hotel bedtime reading. 

    I'm not going to get away from the Electric Park. No chance. But
    from this one-venue perspective there does not, so far, seem to be
    much reflection of housing crisis sub prime credit woes. The vendors
    are reporting sales about on par with last year. Equipment dealers
    from what I hear seem to be having a good year, thanks in part to
    buying by purchasors from Europe and other foreign countries taking
    advantage of the low dollar. 

    One more week of intensity and then it's tear down time. Then three
    days of recuperation, after which I begin to wish it would star all
    over again. 

Cheers all,
Hans Durstling
donuts done, time to hear to the show and prepare the next presentation.
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