Saturday, March 28, 2015

blinded by the light - chatoyancy

There appears in nature, certain stones that resemble a cat's eye. Light reflects through parallel bands of fibrous material. This phenomenon is known as chatoyancy.

Not all stones are useful for making paint, however, I sometimes find myself drawn to certain minerals for other reasons that initially may seem remote, but then  their relevance becomes apparent.

Such is the case with a stone called "Cat's Eye".
Here is a picture of it:




I have purchased this stone for my father and myself. One of it's greatest characteristics is it's ability to protect. Recently I became interested in another version of Cat's Eye, called Hawk's Eye. Hawk's Eye is red and in addition to the same guarding property of Cat's Eye, it is "very grounding". I carry Hawk's Eye with me daily, both for it's stability enhancing effect in a rough work world, and for the reminder of it's incredibly brilliant example of chatoyancy...



I enjoy staring at these stones daily. They are extremely soothing to the eyes. 




One day i was passing a wire sculpture on campus. The sculpture was capturing the light that was so pleasing and relaxing to my eyes. The late morning light was reflecting on parallel "bands" of wires and creating chatoyancy!
That is how I interpreted it loosely. But I was amazed that a similar effect was created with entirely different materials.