Sisters artist has international clientele

Entering the home studio of acclaimed local artist Lawrence Stoller is like discovering the magical caves of Aladdin, with glittering gemstones and crystal sculptures enticing the eye at every turn. For nearly 30 years, this Central Oregon lapidary wizard has been shaping and polishing these illuminating treasures of the earth.

Fusing art and technology, his megagem creations grace the homes of celebrities, tech moguls and an international roster of discriminating clients. His works explore rare beauty and inspire the imagination to new realms. Stoller crystals are seen in museums, exclusive art galleries, national rock and gem shows, corporate offices and even the 9/11 "Eleven Tears Memorial" across from Ground Zero in New York City.

"Crystals are archetypal in the human psyche and there's the whole notion of them having resonating power," he explained. "Interest in crystals and crystal art is soaring right now. One of the places the idea stems from is that they are rocks, one of the hardest substances known, harder than steel, and yet you can see into and through them. Also, their pyroelectric properties of giving off sparks further adds to the magic. Crystals have been used ritualistically for ages by shamans and around campfires in every culture. They are the bedrock of our modern computer technologies and embody the marvels of creation we don't fully understand."

Stoller prowls the Earth, from Brazil to Zambia, Madagascar to Russia, in search of suitable crystals and minerals to use for his next sparkling masterpiece, ranging from simple, palm-size charms to enormous keg-size monster gems weighing over a ton.

Ten years ago he cut the largest crystal in history, a 1,400-pound citrine quartz boulder unearthed in Africa which he affectionately calls "The Golden One." Touring his workshops and finishing rooms, one is immediately confronted with the otherworldly wonder of this glowing stone icon.

"At the time it was the biggest transparent rock ever cut," he said, turning on the crystal's pedestal light, causing the stone to pulsate with fractured color within. "We spent three years building the studio and working it; myself, Peter Small and Timothy Turco. It was a formidable creative marathon."

His studio walls are filled with rough stock crystals on shelves and in bins, organized according to size and hue, from purple and gold to garnet-red and aquamarine. Some have been purchased from old government stockpiles over the years, after new technologies rendered their intended use obsolete, appropriately turning crystals from tools of war to works of art. Quartz is one of the planet's most abundant minerals and can naturally form a six-sided prism, but its appeal and intrinsic properties are far from the mere mundane.

"Most people call crystals rocks, but technically they are non-organic life forms, having grown at a much slower rate of time, enduring millions of years of pressure, heat and cooling. Crystals also contain a piezoelectric property that allow them to amplify, condense, focus and resonate electromagnetic energy. They can be used as tools for healing and medical applications and especially as personal companions with a presence. I see them as harmonic resonating sculptures due to their natural oscillation. As my wife, Sunni, points out: 'First we brought plants into our homes, then animals and now the mineral kingdom.'"

When Stoller started there were only small gemstone cutting machines used mostly for jewelry. Now, through innovation and imagination, he's incorporated, among other things, a giant saw with a five-foot-diameter diamond blade.

"I call it the Yellow Submarine," he joked, gesturing to a huge blue and yellow steel box hunkered down in his garage. "We modified it from an industrial jade boulder cutting machine. There's no one else in the world doing work like this."

In the grinding room, Stoller and his assistants, Ingrid Mrencso and Timothy Turco, shape smaller raw pieces on a converted diamond-cutter's bench, grinding and shaping the crystals using a diamond-lap wheel made of steel and tiny impregnated diamonds.

"It's all done by hand and takes big chunks of time and a high degree of skill," he said. "We go through a very extensive, seven- or eight-step process to get the finished result, from initial selection to sawing, shaping and final polish."

Stoller's Crystalworks showroom is open to the public by appointment only. For more about Stoller, visit him at www.crystalworks.com.