karen.wollscheid@gmail.com – Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

April 2022 – Gourd Awards!

AWARDS! GOURDS! EXPLORED! AWARDS: Seven members of the Sun Lakes Rock, Gem & Silver Club entered their Gourd Art in the Arizona Gourd Society’s Gourd Art Competition & Show, and brought home eight ribbons. Gourds can be crafted for any number of things: this year’s entries included a votive candle holder, vase, music box, decorative bowl, wall hangings, fine sculpture and even a fun peacock. Ribbons are not the goal – and it sure was nice to see our artwork displayed and admired by festival attendees. GOURDS: The Arizona Gourd Society’s Competition and Show is held annually during the Wuertz Farm … Continue reading →

Free Time

Congratulations! You live in beautiful Sun Lakes – where most of us are retired folks who describe our days like this; “I’ve got nothing to do and all day to do it.” And right now you’re probably trying to figure out what to do with some of your new found FREE time. Easy Question: Can you name one of the largest and (we think) the best of all the clubs in Sun Lakes? Hint: Yes, it is us! So let us say “WELCOME” from the Sun Lakes Rock, Gem & Silver Club! Dumb Question: Do I have to be a … Continue reading →

Flash from the Past

The SLRGS Club has been around an exceptionally long time. Opal M. Rickensrud was the Secretary of the Club in 1984. This a great article written by her in the Splash in April 1984. She is an entertaining writer. Makes for some fun reading. She starts by telling how a guest speaker from the National Treasure Hunters League located in Apache Junction whose subject is Metal Detectors spoke to the Club. How metal detecting sounds like a great hobby for people “our age – not too strenuous”. Do people still do that? Sounds interesting. And their March field trip to Deming, New Mexico. Fourteen club … Continue reading →

May 2021 – Artist Linda Murray

Who does not love jewelry? Imagine designing and making your own unique one-of-a-kind pieces. Shown below are some of the gorgeous pieces made by Linda Murray. The lapis lazuli pendant is a piece you can learn to make in the silver one class. A bezel is cut to fit the stone and then soldered to the backing. These stones are cabochons. You can learn to make them in lapidary class at the Club. The design for the copper pendant with a silver tree scene is cut with a coping saw and sweat soldered over the copper piece. The bale is … Continue reading →

April 2021 – Artist Jan Meyers

Delicious free time! What does an artistic and creative person find to fill their time with! Jan Meyers retired from a career in finance and travel in 2010 and was looking for something to grab her interest. She found an outlet for her creativity in glass of all kinds. And she discovered the wonderful opportunities to do this at the Sun Lakes Rock Gem and Silver Club. Her first course was in mosaics and she was hooked. She followed up with classes in stained and fused glass. In her words “Glass is fluid, expressive and filled with color. You can … Continue reading →

Gorgeous Glass

Discover the world of gorgeous glass at the Sun Lakes Rock Gem and Silver Club. No need for previous experience as the club offers wonderful instructions in many types of glass. Glass has been used since Ancient Greek and Roman times. Notably stained glass to depict religious scenes in churches, etc. SLRGS offers three types of glass classes. Stained glass is cold glass. It involves cutting and combining different colored glass and textures. Then using copper foiling and soldering techniques to bind the pieces together. Fused glass which is warm glass involved using a kiln. The glass is fired at … Continue reading →

March 2021 – Artist Fred Jonasz

The motivation to take up residence in Sun Lakes, like most, was avoiding winter weather and in Fred’s case the hospitality of the Oakwood Murphy’s, relatives whom they frequently visited in AZ. Fred and his wife Gelene have been Snowbirds for 14 years; their permanent residence is Arlington, VA. Fred grew up n Queens, NY where he avoided truancy by attending all required public schools and then onto New York University where he earned a BA degree in Economics. Mandatory Military Service, better known as the “Draft” was in effect in 1953 and he qualified but preferring blue to khaki … Continue reading →

February 2021 – Artist Don Hall

Don Hall was born in California where he met and married his wife Pat. He is the father of three children. He previously resided eight years in Nevada and thirteen in Oregon. Don has spent the last 28 years in Arizona. He retired after thirty-eight years as an estimator/project manager in heavy construction. He and Pat enjoy music, photography and exploring historical sites. Over the years they have collected rocks at gem shows and rock shops; he now incorporates these findings into art and jewelry. After joining the SLRGS club in 2014 he took lapidary 1 class where he learned … Continue reading →

The Heart of the Club

Here is what’s Happening and How YOU can get involved. Classes are offered in a variety of skills including lapidary, lost wax, stained glass, dichroic glass, silversmithing, wire wrapping, faceting, opals, gourds and Ming trees just to mention a few. We invite you to join our club and participate in one or more of these classes. You need no background in art, just a willingness to try something new. Once you successfully complete a class you are eligible to pay a small fee and work in the open shop designated for that art form. Schedules, fees, prerequisites for advanced classes … Continue reading →

January 2021 – Artist Henry Huss

A Hobby or A Labor of Love? Forty-five years ago, Henry joined an adult class in basic stained glass; nothing complicated, simply enjoying each other’s company. He went on to take other classes taught by experts in their field. One classes was wood framing where he developed the skill of making 18th century ship models from scratch. After finishing his 12th master level model (some taking him 12 months to complete) he moved on to other hobbies. Henry William Huss was born in the fall of 1933 in Lakewood, a quaint winter resort in central New Jersey. He graduated … Continue reading →

Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

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Author Archives: karen.wollscheid@gmail.com