Picasso Jasper

A metamorphosed limestone—not, strictly speaking, jasper at all. Pressure and heat from tectonic activity rearranged the minerals within the limestone, producing abstract linear patterns. The resemblance to Pablo Picasso's work gave it its common name.

Found in Brazil and Utah. The dark lines are iron oxide and manganese deposited along fractures. The white and cream ground is the limestone's original colour.

An abstract painting by nature—except that calling it a "painting" is a human interpretation. The stone is simply recording geological process. The naming was ours. The intention was not.

Stuck. One person changes the environment. Another changes the angle. This stone is for the second type — the daily practice of looking at the same situation and seeing something different. Less about demolishing a fixed idea, more about noticing it was fixed in the first place. That moment of noticing is why I keep it.