Mookaite - When Does Handcrafted Jewelry Become Art?

Secret Expressions of a Mookaite Necklace

When is jewelry art? As a jewelry designer, I pondered at what point my jewelry designs might advance beyond their function as wardrobe accessories into the realm of art. Let me tell you what a mookaite necklace told me about that.

To me, my jewelry designs are all works of art. That may, or may not, be what others think about it. The consumers or receivers of creations like my jewelry designs are looking for a piece of personal adornment that looks good and fits well on them. And it would be nice if some personal connection came along with the piece. If it does and that connection clicks, it's art. If not, it's not. Pretty simple, yes?

A light clicked on for me when a gallery carrying my designs called up with some questions. "A customer is interested in your 'Colorado Rose' necklace. What's the connection to Colorado?" A legitimate question arising from declared attraction to the design, as the 'Colorado Rose' necklace was made from mookaite, a stone with only one known source: Australia.

How was I to explain the conglomeration of connections going through my head during the design and fabrication of the 'Colorado Rose' necklace made of mookaite?

Mookaite is a beautiful multicolored stone that comes from a remote locality in Western Australia. The best known source is the Mooka Creek, located in Mooka Station, a former sheep station in the mountains of the Kennedy Range. (How's that for remote?) Also spelled "mookite," some folks get tired of having to carry the "a" in the mineral named after it's source with i-t-e added at the end. Okay. So, again, what's the connection to Colorado?

The multiple colors in mookaite include red, yellow, brown, white, and black, to be spectrally simple about it. Variations in those colors could be described:
for the reds, as mauve, raspberry, burgundy, dusty rose, wine;
for the yellows, as mustard, butterscotch, honey;
for the whites, as snow, ivory, light beige;
for the browns, as chocolate, tan, muddy;
and for black, you can think up your own names for when black isn't black.
So, mookaite comes in an astounding array of hues within those color families. And the connection to Colorado is......?