Jasper in Technicolor

Modeling paste, balsa wood, and acrylic with African Queen Picture Jasper cabochon on wood box | 2" x 3.5" x 2" | One of a kind

African Queen Picture Jasper is a stone that already contains a landscape. Its sepia tones move in horizontal bands and washes, suggesting distance, atmosphere, terrain seen from above or from a long way off. The cabochon on this box was cut by the maker from rough stone.

A setting was carved directly into the lid to receive it. An upper surround was carved from balsa wood, then the whole surface was worked in modeling paste to draw the texture of the stone outward into the painted landscape around it. The colors shift from the warm, muted tones of the jasper into something brighter, more saturated, more insistent. The transition is deliberate. It is an homage to the moment in the Wizard of Oz when the film moves from sepia to Technicolor: the same world, suddenly seen differently.

The box is functional, with a hinged lid and interior space. The cabochon is set into the lid and is part of the structure of the piece.