2009 Druzy Contest Winner
Rhonda Chase

Plink. Plink. Plink.
A drip.
A faint glimmer.
 
The moonlike gleam of a stray ray of sunlight. Walk into the dark. Quiet. The world is gone. A new world awaits.
 
Turn on a light. And see. Like you’ve never seen before.
 
Enter the cave. Resplendent walls of crystal with fabulous spires and drops. A spectacular shining cavern and a silent secret river sliding past the stone. At the center of it all, a magnificent still pool, saying nothing, but drawing great attention by its beauty. Crystal formations lie just beneath the waters’ surface, shimmering with uncanny light in this dim world. On the banks of the pool, banded layers of gemstone laid down over eons.

A crystal cave was the inspiration for my druzy artwork. These fabulous caverns present a world within our own, mystical in appearance, but completely earthbound. The very core of the earth itself. Rock. My beautiful druzy looks like a still blue pool at the base of the cave. Look into the pool, and see the sparkle of crystals beneath the water, the reflection of gems above. Look around the pool and see a liquid silver river winding slowly past it and through the cavern. The druzy appears to float in its setting so that it is not obscured from light or view. I have enhanced my crystal cave with Botswana agate and Swarovski crystals carefully chosen to match and accentuate the druzy. You can see the river break into swirls and eddies as it splashes into these formations. And as the water comes around the far side of the crystal pool, five free-hanging rivulets of fine sterling chain and hand-wrapped links create small, gentle streams. After this, the river will continue on, the cave will continue on, but we can see no further.