"Waterfall" - Beginning of a Journey
(A sculpture by Michael Clark)
by: Lorrae E and Glenn Lawrence
Stacked upon a well used table in 2009, a mixture of boulder opal and Koroit matrix lay glittering in the Australian outback morning sun, flashing all the colours of the rainbow from within its dusty, ancient host.
Inside one of these boulders lay a seam that lead to a large, gleaming, undulating face of turquoise, emerald green and blue opal which was soon to become the "Waterfall", a free form sculpture from the Koroit opal fields in Queensland, Australia.
This small treasure of rough desert boulders then travelled from the western opal fields to a tranquil rainforest studio on Queensland's Sunshine Coast where it sat unexposed for 6 months waiting for its transformation.
Initially, Michael followed a thin sparkling seam that was showing at one end of the boulder. Carefully and patiently, the covering stone was removed to reveal the face of shimmering blue rapids. He continued enhancing the remaining three sides by following the natural patterning of the stone, creating unique designs that completed the sculpture. Then, a piece of Australian Red Cedar was selected, carved and polished as its presentation stand resulting in a totally Australian art piece.
Excited with the find, six and a half weeks of carving, sanding and polishing quickly vanished as the sculpture of the "Waterfall" took form and became one of the main features of Michael's hand carved Queensland boulder opal sculptures of 2010, going on to be displayed at many of the Australian Opal Expos during the southern winter.
Carefully wrapped, the "Waterfall" journeyed over 1,000 kilometres to be exhibited firstly at the Winton Opal Expo, where the oohs and ahhs began.
The Yowah Opal Expo was the next showing of the "Waterfall". Once more, people were both taken by this stunning sculpture as well as simply relished the opportunity to view such a large faced opal sculpture accompanied by the beautiful matrix for which the Koroit opal fields are world famous.
On the way to Lightning Ridge for the 2010 festival, Michael and his partner Lorrae dropped into the Koroit opal field once more and found themselves standing only metres away from where this boulder had formed in an ancient inland cretaceous sea and laid undisturbed for over a hundred million years. Its full beauty and creative potential was place back into the hands of the amazed men who had dug it up only 12 months before.
As the sun set over the desert landscape that day, the "Waterfall" sparkled and tumbled away on a opal miner's outdoor table in remembrance of the far lusher environment of it birth place.
Next was the Lightning Ridge Opal Expo, where the "Waterfall" stole the hearts of many, "Including our own", says Lorrae, "as we knew that soon e would almost certainly have to part ways with this very special piece."
People had read about Michael exhibiting his sculptures in an article from the winter edition of Australia's Metal Stone & Glass magazine. The response to this year's series of sculptures accompanying the "Waterfall' was just fantastic.
After travelling all over the Queensland outback, then down into New South Wales, they then headed across to the Gold Coast Trade Expo, where the "Waterfall" would have its next showing.
Again the reception was overwhelming and it was here that Ernst and Helen Schlangenotto from Schlangenotto Opals in Germany fell in love with this magnificent, uniquely Australian sculpture.
The journey of the "Waterfall" has only just begun. Leaving Australia, it will be exhibited by Ernst and Helen at the Mineralientage Gem Expo in Munich this October, 2010.
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