ARTFULLY DONE
This piece is titled Shattered Reflections and was made by Dan Toone out of the remaining pieces that he had from the Jewelry Design Center diamond sculpture.
DIAMOND Sculpture the Spokane, WA
Kennewick, WA
a journey in art
If the JDC diamond sculpture were a real diamond, it would weigh 23,140,370 carats.
D oug and Brian were in Chicago for a trade show in the fall of 2004 when they were inspired by the famous Cloud Gate (lovingly referred to as “the bean”) in Chicago’s Millennium Park. They were drawn in by the reflective nature and artistic vibe it added to the city. It was on the plane ride home that they discussed the impact of that sculpture, and asked, “what if we could make something like that for our new store…but in the form of a perfectly cut round brilliant diamond?” That seed of inspiration blossomed into reality — all because they knew exactly who they could call to bring this vision to fruition.
Artistic blood runs deep in the Toone family, and Doug’s brother Dan had been sculpting stainless steel into pieces of art for years. Thankfully, Dan was up for the task. It may sound simple to create a diamond shape, but the challenge of the project cannot be underestimated. Not only did all the proportions and angles need to be just perfect, but the piece would need to be created without visible seams in order to have just the right effect. Each facet panel had to match perfectly and be juxtaposed with perfect symmetry on the opposite side. A full year later, it was quite clear Dan’s hard work was worth the effort.
Mounted on a spinning motor to show off the reflective qualities of the sculpture, the final piece was a 6-foot-wide diamond weighing 800 pounds in beautifully polished stainless steel, nestled amongst a bouquet of local natural basalt columns representing the journey diamonds make toward the earth’s surface. In reality, this piece of art represents so much more than just the beauty of a diamond. It is special because it represents who we are. We are all artists and craftsmen at heart who love what we do and who we do it for. Today, there is a diamond sculpture made by Dan at the flagship location in Spokane and at the Tri-Cities location. Soon, another will be coming to Missoula.
To see Dan Toone’s other artwork, visit his website at www.dantoone.com
4 JEWELRY DESIGN CENTER
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