Surfaced late today from diving into the sandpit and came up with…. “The Opal Hunter”.

In my younger days I was known to be adventurous and at times a bit of a loner.

One thing I’m glad for is that I didn’t pursue joining an opal mining community.

My favorite stone is…, yep…you guessed it, opals. I may never have returned to where I am now.

Am certain I would have succumbed to the opal bug.

So, below is my first attempt at creating an artwork titled “The Opal Hunter #1”.

According to Bedouin folklore, opals fall from the sky during thunderstorms and get their marvelous color from lightning trapped within them.

"To think that you were the first person ever in the world to lay eyes on such a beautiful thing, that's been there for a 140 million years, is just staggering, and to be the one that digs it out and gets to keep it is just fantastic.

Source: Coober Pedy Opal Mining. As one miner puts it “opal doesn’t follow rules, opal is where it wants to be”.

Australia’s last generation of opal miners? "When you're out in this dark tunnel, digging away with just a little light, a pick and shovel, and you unearth something that is extremely valuable in opal sense, but also once was a living creature, that was the best euphoria of feeling that you could ever imagine."