ann

I saw those at the Texas show and am still blinking . . .

Ooooh -- I especially like the mostly clear with stretched spots of color and lutz . . . is that some iridescence or opalescence or something on/in a couple of them? I'm old, I could be seein' things . . .

NIIIZZZZE.

Where's Galen?

Nice score!

How kool is that!

That's it! I wanna make some of my own! Maybe between the two of us we can figger it out, Steph . . . Or maybe just zombify some folks . . .

I'm thinkin' maybe I could use some of them . . .

Then I'll revise my mumbling to myself to say "hmmm, could be a pistachio . . ."

Blew my travel wad on the Texas show. Might have to wait until next year for another . . .

I love 'em.

Orbboy torturing me again with that baby-blue-with-yellow-and-orange snake. Just sayin.'

I don't think it's a pistachio, but I think it could be Alley Agate. I have a similar one where the ribbons are almost-but-not-quite-black (maybe a tinge of greenish-brown?) with transparent purple showing a little along the edges of the ribbons at some points . . . hit yours with a bright light (like a maglight flashlight) and see what that does to it --

I'm game.

And going all the way back to the Revolutionary War . . .

Probably a few gamma ray bursts too. Going under my desk . . .

Aw, jeez, a close-up / multiple view of it, now I'm gonna be weeping and sniffling the rest of the afternoon . . . I don't suppose you'd want to just SEND IT TO ME, out of the goodness of your heart . . . sob . . .

I want it. Forget Ima_ddicted.

I think you're doin' fine.

Nope, I know the feeling of a job well done, both when I'm the do-er and when I get a job well done from someone. I'm just saying that a job well done or pride in workmanship is not and has not been the main mission of businesses in general. There have always been individual exceptions, more prevalent in some fields than others. As far back as Roman times (but also certainly before), it's been "caveat emptor," or "buyer beware."

There never has been much. So don't buy it. Or buy into it.

I don't think Steve Maslach has ever signed anything, old or new (torn between him and Jody Fine on the upper right one too). And I don't believe it was quite as customary 15-20 years ago for marble artists to sign their work as it is today. Almost everyone does now -- although some signatures can be tough to find or see, now that more artists are using a titanium pen instead of engraving.

Yea, YOU'RE the one that kills me, marblemiser . . . I want a horizontal swirl I want a horizontal swirl I want a horizontal swirl I want a horizontal swirl I want a horizontal swirl I want a horizontal swirl I want a horizontal swirl I want WHOOPS there I go again . . .

The obligation is something you take upon yourself. Not everyone chooses to do that. And just as everything can matter, nothing can matter -- in the very largest scheme of things. And just as the inheritor of the Alox marble machine can "borrow" the tank and personnel from Jabo, and call the marbles produced Alox marbles (which I believe she has every right to do), the various investor or patron groups can rent the tank and personnel from Jabo -- and supply their own glass and chemicals -- and call their marbles whatever they wish, and do whatever they wish with them. And Jabo can say "they're not Jabo marbles," and have it be so. I think your concern is admirable. I just prefer to accept personal responsibility for what goes into my marble collection, and believe that ultimately each collector (newbie or oldie) has to do the same. It's your taste, your money, your collection, after all.