Yellow Mountain StoneWorks

Some days the mail is so freakin' heavy it feels like people are sending me nothing but a box of rocks.

And, guess what? Today some people did exactly that. Fed Ex no less.

It's a rock company. Yellow Mountain StoneWorks right here in Seattle. (you will find this blog to be heavily Seattle-based, and that's for two reasons: 1) seattle has some of this country's the bangenest residential architecture going. and if you didn't know it before, ya do now. And, 2) i live here. back to our programming)

The folks at Stoneworks have become pals with the folks in China and so, because they're friends and all, they have "cultivated long-term relationships with artisans and quarries in China." They will make just about anything for you in China. Including rocks. And the two I got in the mail are quite nice. For rocks.

For the record, these two guys I got are called Redheart Limestone and Butterfly Blue Granite. And if you had a lot of them, you could have yourself quite the set of stairs, terrace, fireplace, floor, you name it. But what I have are two jim-dandy paperweights. Or headstones for a gerbil.

Now seeking two freshly dead gerbils. But not in the mail.

Seriously, though, Redheart and Butterfly Blue were used in a sculpture called "Fluidity" created for the 10th anniversary of Portland's Lan Su Chinese Garden (in case you're headed that way soon). You can find it in Lan Su's entry plaza, where it will be on display for the Mooncakes & Pomegranates celebration (I have no idea what that is, but the name, uh, rocks!). After that catch Fluidity at the Portland Art Museum for the Lan Su gala on Sept. 16.

The p.r. lady, in her pitch, points out that rocks are nature's oldest building material. Ooo, that's so caveperson. Love the fur outfits and the big hair, not much for the lack of shoes though.

Thank you, Betty Rubble.