Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
As a newcomer to Sweet Home, John Glossa did what any other artists might. He painted a picture of his new home, but he didn’t do his work on a canvas.
Instead he worked the bones of the earth itself to represent Sweet Home in a gold pendant.
The centerpiece is a 12-carat Holley blue, a lavender agate native to the Sweet Home area. It includes two teal-colored diamonds, .42 carats, representing Sweet Home’s lakes; a flowing white gold curve representing the South Santiam River; and three triangles, one set over the other, portray the Three Sisters. The pendant is fabricated in 14-karat yellow, palladium white and rose gold. the pendant weights just more than 12 grams.
Glossa moved to Sweet Home in November when his wife, Melany, took a job as the Sweet Home District Ranger. He promptly joined the Sweet Home Rock and Mineral Society, and he was among volunteers helping organize the annual Rock and Gem Show last weekend. He also displayed his new work, for which he is asking $2,700, at the show.
He hopes to open a storefront in the area at some point. The work is a natural fit for him, as he’s been a rockhound since he was young.
“I started rockhounding as a kid,” Glossa said.
When he grew up, he went to the University of Northern Colorado and majored in geology.
“I really kind of fell in love with mineralogy,” he said. That led to his particular interest in gems, and he attended the Gem Institute of America in Santa Monica 23 years ago. Afterward, he started making custom jewelry and opened a gemology store in Colorado. Since then, he has refined his techniques, sometimes using elements he has observed with other jewelers.
When he started work on his latest pendant, which took about 25 hours to complete, “I bought some of that Holley blue royal,” he said. With its fractures, “it’s really not an easy stone to cut,” so he bought a stone from Ken White’s Lapidary.
He started with the middle, by setting the agate and then went to work on the gold designs and setting the diamonds. Each piece is fabricated separately and then attached to the others before a final cleaning and polishing of every surface.
“I kind of think of it more as a sculpture — it’s like a miniature sculpture,” he said, but he often starts on paper with a sketch. With the expense of the materials involved, he will sometimes do a mockup in silver. Mistakes are expensive when working in gold, so that’s the traditional way for jewelers to create a proof of their project.
“I try to present a piece that’s without fingerprints, without flaw,” he said.
And it’s the perfect medium for perfectionism.
“What I’ve realized about the jewelry, gem and rock business, there’s nothing quite like it,” Glossa said. The materials have value, and they are rare, with a wide palette of colors, shades and light effects to use.
“Even the cutting of the gemstones is an art,” he said. The process is an artistic outlet for him, one he enjoyed sharing last weekend.
“I’m very impressed with the volume and the quality of the merchandise,” he said of the show.
His involvement in the local rock and mineral community won’t end with the society and the rock show though, he said. He is planning to teach silversmithing through Linn-Benton Community College as well as working on possibly opening a store.
Glossa lives in Sweet Home with his wife and three children, Bella, 4; Milo, 2; and Coco, 5 months.
For more information, contact Glossa at 367-8857 or visit johnglossa.com on the Internet.