RocksForKids.com

Arts & Crafts

People have been making decorative items out of stones and minerals for thousands of years. At the very beginning when man began using tools, rocks were the first choice after wood because stones were so durable. As societies became more advanced and fire was harnessed to help shape tools, human civilization underwent great changes as societies learned to use metals like copper, iron, bronze and steel. That is why some of our human civilization time periods are named after rocks and minerals such as The Stone Age and the Bronze Age.

From very early on, people have been decorating the things they use and their homes. Once it was known how to chip stones to make arrow heads, people also turned to making sculptures out of stone and decorating their day to day tools.

From this early beginning, rocks and minerals have been used to fashion arts and crafts. Today people who like rocks & minerals are involved in such crafts as jewelry making, soapstone carving, making eggs and spheres, lampshades, agate art and viewing stones just to name a few. Of course since everything that is not grown is made of rocks and minerals, almost everything starts out coming from the earth. What makes these crafts different is that for the most part they use the natural beauty of rocks and minerals as a starting off point for their artistic interpretations.

 

Agate Art

    

Samples of Agate Art from Agate Art Workshop by E. Berndl, N. Gere & B. Kovacs

Jewelry

Wrapture Wire Jewellery 
Maintained by Dianne Karg, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sculptures

Soapstone Carving

         
Soapstone Bears 
carved by N. Gere & E. Berndl

Eggs

Eggs are loved the world over and take on interesting art forms.

 
Mineral Eggs carved by N. Gere

       
Egg window catchers made of dyed agate slices by B. Kovacs.


          
Real eggs decorated by N. Gere

 

Decorations

Lamps

Agate Slab Lamps

Lamps by Bill Kovacs, Ontario Canada

 

Lamps Made out of Puddingstone from St. Joseph's Island, Ontario Canada

Local shop on St. Joseph Island where these puddingstone lamps were on display. Local quarry where puddingstone can be found as boulders deposited by glaciers.

To see a lamp made of agate slices, visit Wolf Run Creations
This site is maintained by Gary Betts, Oregon USA

 

Viewing Stones

Viewing Stones, Suseiki & Chinese Scholar Stones 
Maintained by Craig Hunt, British Columbia, Canada
The International Stone Appreciation Society 
Maintained by Kevin Bailey, North Wales, United Kingdom

 

 

RocksForKidsWelcome       Table of Contents                 Contact Us                Grade 4 Rock Talks by Rockhounds       
 TEACHER'S CORNER                       ©  1999 - 2008 GMB Services                                
Privacy Policy