Artists’ Statement

Medium: Lapidary, Cold-connect and Soldered Jewelry 

There is beauty and eon's old mystery in our own back yard. That is the story that we tell with our work that focuses on the designer cabochons that we cut from the colourful rock of the Bay of Fundy.

The Fundy basin is home to some of the oldest exposed rock found in Eastern Canada. It is rich in fossils, minerals, the crypto-crystalline quartz formations of agate and jasper and some lovely examples of amethyst.

It is with great delight that we venture out in search of new finds that nature exposes annually with the spring thaws. These small treasures are very rough and often dull mud-covered chunks, but the real joy is in uncovering the gorgeous colours and patterns inside a seemingly worthless rock that has been trapped in a volcano's basalt for hundreds of millions of years.

The first cut into the rock with our lapidary saw is the most exciting; it is at that moment that the hidden mystery is exposed. The colours, the banding, the small bits of druzy and occasional larger mineral crystals of the rock come to life on the diamond polishing wheels our equipment.

The jewelry that we make using our cabochons is completely handcrafted by us, one at a time, using precious metal wire and sheet stock in both our soldered and cold work. The jewelry that incorporates stones or gems is strongly influenced by the shapes and textures of the stones as we work to accentuate their natural beauty.

We have found that textile techniques such as knitting, crocheting and weaving often provide wonderful accents to the stones’ settings.

We both have the necessary skills and understanding of our lapidary equipment and of the tools and techniques used in our jewelry design and construction to do any job required at any step of the process.

These skills also allow our clients to work comfortably with us in order to customize stone and jewelry to their specifications.

About the Artists

Cynthia did not initially train as an artist, despite her strong interest and independent study in the arts. She received a BA from St. Thomas University in 1990.

Cynthia studied stained glass in 1990 and again in 1991 with a highly accomplished local design team. Her work in stained glass may be found in many area homes and she was the designer and head artisan for the art glass windows and panels used in the 1999 renovations of the Hilltop Grill & Beverage Co. of Fredericton, NB.

In 1995, Cynthia’s work with stained glass developed into a wholesale business, Candlelights and Roses (now Atlantic Pewter), which she was instrumental in establishing in Harvey Station, NB. In this business, she incorporated pewter casting with her stained glassware designs for a line of giftware and produced designs for their line of pewter jewelry.

Cynthia left the Atlantic Pewter management team in 2000 but continued to design and consult for them until 2003.

In 2003, their business partnership became ...and now for something completely different… jewelry which builds on their interest in the structure and creation of jewelry constructed primarily from wire and stone. Their work has quickly evolved into precious metal jewelry incorporating gems and their designer cabochons, and jewelry using textile related techniques.

Collaborative work with her partner, David, has been shown at the Metal Arts Guild of Nova Scotia’s annual exhibits at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, in 2004 and in October of 2005 where their recent entry received an honorable mention in the “All Silver” category. They have also participated in gallery shows in Toronto and Calgary. They are juried and exhibiting members of both the New Brunswick Crafts Council and the Nova Scotia Designers Crafts Council.

David’s educational background is in engineering and he currently works professionally in security as well as creating jewelry and lapidary full-time.

David’s strength in engineering was “Creative Design” and he takes many of the constructive problem-solving lessons of this course and applies them to his work in stone and metal.

David has been using tools from a very early age and is very comfortable with tools and frequently customizes and builds his own for his lapidary and jewelry work as he often did for his work on cars.

David began to seriously pursue his interest in handcrafting in 1998 when he met Cynthia and began to work with her in pewter jewelry casting and Tiffany-style stained glass. With the creation of their own business partnership in 2002, David began working with the design and technical aspects of creating jewelry. In keeping with his desire to not only assist but also to complement, he first created ‘Geek-wear’. He describes it this way: “as a young child ‘working’ in my father’s radio shop, I had formed the idea that those pretty colored electronic components needed to be shown off in a fun and unexpected way.”

As an adult, the freedom to work without criticism allows David to bring this idea to fruition and, even though he claims that he failed art class in school, realize that his hands do produce “art” because of the viewers’ positive reactions to his designs.

David also practices the art of lapidary, and cuts many local stones including Bay of Fundy Agates into designer cabochons for use in their jewelry. His desire to educate the public about lapidary and jewelry has fueled his desire to make and own portable lapidary equipment so that people can see the work being done while they exhibit their jewelry at a show. When in their studio and store and uses his Highland Park for cutting and polishing stone.

Collaborative work with his partner, Cynthia, has been shown at the Metal Arts Guild of Nova Scotia’s annual exhibits at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, in 2004 and in October of 2005 where their recent entry received an honorable mention in the “All Silver” category. They have also participated in gallery shows in Toronto and Calgary. They are juried and exhibiting members of both the New Brunswick Crafts Council and the Nova Scotia Designers Crafts Council.

David resides near the village of Harvey Station, NB with his wife, Cynthia, his two children and her two cats.

Cynthia & David Ryder

Current Memberships

New Brunswick Crafts Council (Juried 2005)

Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council (Juried 2005)

Metal Arts Guild of Nova Scotia (Juried 2003)

Dartmouth Handcrafters’ Guild (Juried 2003)

Metal Arts Guild of Canada

Fredericton Arts Alliance

Mactaquac Country Chamber of Commerce

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Exhibits of note

October 2006, Metal Arts Guild of Nova Scotia annual exhibit, with the theme of Fantasies & Fables, hosted at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax. We received an award for Best Piece, Gem Stone category for the submission "Borg Mask". The same piece resulted in one of the shows three major awards, the Touch of Gold Design Trophy,  being presented for Best Design. 

November 1 - December 10, 2005, Participation in Cocktail Rings at INFLUX Jewellery Gallery, Calgary, AB

October 2005, Metal Arts Guild of Nova Scotia annual exhibit, with the theme of Play, hosted at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax. Honorable mention received in the All Silver category for our entry of Monkey Bars.

October 2004, Metal Arts Guild of Nova Scotia annual exhibit, with the theme of Ancient History, hosted at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax. 

June 24 –August 8, 2004 at Metalurge, Toronto, Ontario. Participation in Love, Promise, Faith: Artists Re-Image the Ring