Indian Jewelry Trunk Show

March 19, 2005
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Give your spring wardrobe a fresh look with something new from our Indian Jewelry Trunk Show! Come find that perfect accessory from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 19. Thousands of new pieces will be brought in from Albuquerque just for this one-day show. Still sealed in their packages and priced at retail, our customers will receive 25% off all marked prices! Once the show is over, our Albuquerque trader will pack up his 'trunks' and take it all home. Don’t miss this chance to get a great deal on handmade earrings, rings, watches, belt buckles, necklace sets and more!

We’re making it fun for the kids, too! Bring them in for free 'Indian-style' face painting. There’s also a great exhibit running at Crown Center called Fairy Tale Village. Meet Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood in the atrium from 1-4 p.m. Learn more at www.crowncenter.com!

David Behrens Signing

April 14, 2005
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Come enjoy a delightful evening with the renowned artist, David Behrens, on Thursday, April 14. Best known for his Founding Fathers painting (above), this incredibly talented artist is taking the southwest art community by storm. David’s work has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine, and in the movies Shallow Hal and Friday Night Lights. David was also the featured artist at last year’s Diamond West Art Show. At our April 14th show, David will be signing his limited prints, as well as his smaller 11 x 14 matted prints. Watch

David create a hand-drawn sketch on your mat or print at no additional charge. David’s t-shirts, coffee cups, and key chains will also be on hand.

David can be found visiting Indian reservations to teach youngsters to paint and help develop their self-esteem. He is not only a gifted artist, but a person who uses his talents to bless the lives of others.

Mark your calendar (and get those taxes done early?) so you’ll be sure not to miss this special event!

**** Refreshments will be served ****

Three Rivers Petroglyphs

On our way to Tucson, as we carved a southwesterly path across New Mexico via Highway 54 between Carrizozo and Tularosa, the junipers and sagebrush started to blur, and the long road trip left our backsides in desperate need of a stretch break. I looked on the map for a diversion and noticed the Three Rivers Petroglyph National Recreation Site was just ahead.

From a brief visit to the Three Rivers Gift Shop, we learned over 21,000 petroglyphs were at the park, just 4.5 miles east of Highway 54. We made the quick jog to the petroglyph site and were soon scouring the hillsides discovering hundreds of outstanding examples of Jornada Mogollan rock art.

The Jornada Mogollan were a group of prehistoric Native Americans who occupied the Tularosa Basin. Early inhabitants lived by foraging and hunting, but later the people raised corn, beans, and squash.

The Jornada Mogollan people made their petroglyphs using stone tools to remove dark patina (an oxidized layer) on the exterior of rocks. Some petroglyphs were scratched through the patina, revealing the light inner layer of the rock. Others were painstakingly created by pecking through the patina using two rocks like a hammer and chisel.

Many believe petroglyphs are picture writing, each image representing a word or thought. Together they may relate a story, idea, or directions to travelers. Jornada images were a multitude of designs, from sunbursts, wildlife, hand prints and geometric designs, to masks, kachinas and supernatural or mythical beings. Most researchers believe further studies are needed to be able to decipher the mysteries held by these ancient works of art.*

*Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, by Meliha S. Duran.

Tucson Show Report

After a year of anxious anticipation, we finally were able to attend another Tucson Mineral and Fossil Show. After all the amazing things we saw last year, we wondered what would be different. Certainly there were the obvious changes, with a few shows taking place in different hotels. What stood out the most this year, however, was the immensity of the specimens on display. Last year we were wowed by 5-foot amethyst cathedrals; this year it was not uncommon to see them towering at 10 to 12 feet high! Crystals that might commonly fit in the palm of your hand, were displayed in 6-8 foot crates.

A 14-foot long mosasaur lizard (left) and huge dinosaur skeletons were also impressive. We learned that in order for overseas exhibitors to bring such large specimens to Tucson for the show, they are shipped in containers (the boxes hauled by semi-trucks) across the ocean several months before the show starts. This gives them plenty of time to clear customs in time for the Tucson show.

We picked up many neat fossils specimens, including crinoids, lituites breynius, and a 4-foot tall orthoceras (ancient cephalopod); as well as hundreds of beautiful mineral specimens, such as azurites, bug-filled amber spheres, splash copper, and even a few meteorite pendants. Come see the new selection and be sure to bring along your coupon from off this flyer!

Pyrite Suns & Cubes

While in Tucson, we met a gentleman from Spain by the name of Nestor Lopez Ogalde. Nestor is owner and director of the Navajún Mine, the only mine in the world which produces nearly perfect cubic pyrite. According to historians, in the La Rioja region, where the Navajún Mine is located, the pyrite cubes were once called Stones of Santa Casilda and were used in slingshots as ammunition to fend off wolves.

The cubic crystals and groups of crystals are found disseminated in sedimentary rocks (limestone and sandstones) from the Jurassic-Cretaceous Period, approximately 120-130 million years old. Fossil dinosaur tracks are commonly observed in the rocks of the region. The cubes can grow as large as 7.5 inches, or be smaller than a pea. Due to the delicate nature of the pyrites (the mineral is hard, but fragile), the extraction work at the Navajún Mine is done by hand.

Top-quality specimens from the Navajún Mine are on display in the Smithsonian Institute, as well as other important mineralogical museums in Germany, France, Japan, and Spain.

Wilderness Reflections now carries pyrite cubes from the Navajún Mine, ranging from Ľ” inch to over 1" in size, as well as some multi-cube formations. In addition, if you enjoy pyrite, come see our intriguing Pyrite ‘Suns.’ These flat, round shapes are named for their resemblance to the sun. They are found in narrow seams of shale (about 320 million years old) between seams of coal in the mines near Sparta, Illinois, about 30 miles southeast of St. Louis, Missouri.

There are several theories about the origin of these formations. One is that they are pyritized replacements of an earlier fossil creature. Another is that they are the flattened result of a pyrite crystal spread out under heat and pressure in the seams of shale. In either case, the pyrite ‘suns’ form an interesting geologic specimen.

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