in Mark Stevens' own words
The idea to replicate the ancient pottery shards wasn't even my idea.
Over the years I have found many old pot shards while hiking around the Pueblo. It was always a joy finding these "treasures" here and there. Of all the pot shards I had run across, there was one particular shard that I kept on top of my workbench - it was my favorite.
I would often look at this shard and wonder what the pottery might have looked like as a whole pot.
One day in February (2007), I was was sitting alone at my work bench getting ready to work on some bracelets. I picked up this favorite shard of mine and was busy in thought admiring it when I heard a voice say out loud,
"Make it into jewelry."
A little startled, I looked up, and realized that God the Creator was speaking to me. I thought to myself, "how do I do this?"
I have seen artists who will take the actual pot shard and incorporate it into a piece of jewelry (using it as a cabochon). Or they will drill a hole through the top of the shard and wear it as a pendant. I knew I couldn't do either - it wasn't culturally/morally acceptable.
The first words out of my mouth were, "how am I supposed to do this?" Almost immediately I was shown to replicate the pattern and contours of the shard using an overlay technique.
This is the beginning of my pottery shard replica series. This generous gift was given to me by God the Creator and has touched so many people. I am so very grateful for this.
