Marty Magic Blog

A few days ago, I received a call from Ken Mammarella, a freelance writer on assignment for Landenberg Life Magazine. He is writing an article about the preservation of Sunset Farms, property originally purchased in 1878  by my great grandfather, William James Crowell and my great grandmother, Francis Eakins Crowell. Google had led him to a photo I took in 2003 of the original farm house.

My son John Bobroskie (age 11) and Chris Crowell Trostle (now deceased) stand on the front porch. In 2003, I took John out of school for a week to attend the Maryland Renaissance Festival and to visit relatives in the Avondale area. We visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see works by Thomas Eakins and I also took John to visit the farm house for better understanding of the history and his heritage. He enjoyed scrambling through the old farmhouse and I was relieved that he didn’t fall through the rotten floorboards of  second story. Chris was our guide and she led us across a field and down to the river to see the family graves. I took many photos on my Olympus camera of both farm house and graves but it wasn’t until some years later that I had the best of the prints scanned and digitized.

One of my most cherished possessions is the original photograph above of the Crowell family sitting on the steps of their Avondale farmhouse, a photograph taken by Thomas Eakins. As best as Carol Shortlidge and I can determine, from top left to right they are: My great grandfather, William J. Crowell, (born in 1844) holding an open book and my grandfather, James White Crowell, (born in 1888) is the blond child sitting beside him. Ella is the young woman on the top step sitting beside her mother, my great grandmother, Frances Eakins Crowell. The baby on her lap is presumably Caroline who was the last of the 10 children born. Ben leans against the post.  The child below Ella is Fanny (or Frances.)  The three boys sitting on the bottom step are presumably Thomas, William  and Arthur. Margaret is the young woman sitting in front of the post at the far right. Assuming my grandfather is 2 years old in this photo, it was likely taken in 1889 or 1890.

Flash forward to a visit in 2012. I wanted to share the farmhouse and the graves with my husband Art. Chris and her daughter Carole were again our guides. The farmhouse was gone and in its place was small renovated memorial marker. Carole asked permission from whom I presume were John Morris and Lynn Sinclair, that we be allowed to visit the graves and we walked down to the river. I now had an Apple I-Phone and I took many took many photos of the graves. In an effort to record family history, before time changes the landscape and the markers themselves are buried, I am posting images of each grave marker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1951 the adult Crowell/Eakins Children gathered together for this photograph.

From left to right are James White (Jim), Tom, Frances (Fanny), Ben, Caroline, Will and Arthur.

 

Marty Magic is fortunate to have an in home studio and in spite of the challenging times, both Alisha and I are happy and healthy and staying productive.

It’s been nearly three weeks since Alisha has come to work  at the ‘mother ship’ but she has set up her own design space in her home just 5 minutes away.  In between home schooling her children, she is answering e-mail and designing new pieces. (The peanut butter sandwich crumbs have been removed for your visual enjoyment.)

For years, Alisha’s and my wax carving station has been at an antique drop down desk in my living room. I feel inspiration designing in home surroundings filled with family heirlooms and mementos from our travels. Alisha and I usually sit elbow to elbow collaborating (and listening to audio books on tape.)

After 41 years in business there are not many aspects of the business that I can’t manage alone.  We were already well prepared for the summer festivals so we have plenty of inventory and since I am on my own now,  I hand polish each order as it comes in as well as ship from our in house shipping station.

Dave, a talented jeweler in his own right, does our ring sizing and stone settings and he lives just 10 minutes away. He too is sheltering at home where he has his own workshop. A mail slot drop is all that is needed to keep orders flowing.

And if technology gets the better of me, my husband Art is here to offer technical support. Although on a normal Marty Magic workday,  Art usually escapes to a local cafe, he is adapting to the hardships of home pressed coffee and corner window overlooking the Koi Pond.

Although we miss the hustle and bustle of everyone working together in the studio, we are adapting and are getting into the rhythm our new routines. We hope that all of you are well and finding new ways to exercise your body, mind and spirit. Positive vibes to us all.

 

I look forward to the Tucson show each year.  The various venues  take over much of Tucson and this year, Alisha, John and I go together. Three sets of trained eyes are an asset when ticking off  the gemstones and fossils on our shopping lists.  We start each day early and don’t quit until the shows close.

We hope this picture blog is both informative and amusing.

We go to Tucson to buy, learn and find inspiration for new designs. Many hotel rooms are turned into temporary show rooms. We consider buying an Opalized Belemnite Squid Fossil to set in a piece of jewelry. The ones below right are from Coober Pedy, Australia. The vendor has a few freed from the rock but I stick to my shopping list and pass on this expensive whim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In one of the hotel suites,  the vendor has set up a dark room area to showcase the florescent minerals. Under ultraviolet light, they glow with an amazing array of vibrant colors. The below right photo is of the rocks under normal lighting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hotel fossil shows are some of our favorite venues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alisha plans to design a shark tooth pendant so we are on the hunt for fossilized shark’s teeth. Planus Shark Teeth seem to be the right size for her design and she buys many. We learn that the hooked-tooth mako shark lived during the Miocene era and are found in marine deposits along the Pacific Rim, predominately on the west coast of the United States. These prehistoric sharks were about the size of our modern day great white shark. Later in our hotel room, Alisha models the teeth for us. Shopping with my daughter is so much fun!

We spend another prehistoric day at the 22nd Street Show, an immense tented venue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of each day we find a place to unwind over dinner and drinks where we discuss design ideas and cross reference our gemstone and fossil shopping list to plan our strategy for the next day.

High priority on my shopping list are Mexican Matrix Opals and Mexican Fire Opals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Immense crystals fill almost every parking lot in Tucson. It’s like walking through a museum where you are allowed to touch the exhibits.

On Tuesday, Feb 4th, the AGTA show opens to verified buyers. Much documentation is needed to be allowed entry and the security is high. Our badges are scanned when we enter and we peruse the high end gemstones and designer jewelry booths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the evening of the Super Bowl, we return to our hotel to find a Super Bead-a-Thon in progress in our hotel atrium. Many professional beaders have entered this event that Rio Grande and Tierra Cast, among others, have sponsored. All the participants are given an identical bag of findings and beads and have one hour to create a unique jewelry design.  We arrive half way through the timed event and even John finds it interesting and suspenseful. There is an open bar and we order drinks and with mounting excitement, we watch the designs unfold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The short video below is of the Beadathon:

On our final morning in Tucson, we go to the Kino show and stumble upon a tent with enormous amethyst crystals and geodes. For the modest price of $10 donated to a kids foundation, Alisha and John sit inside a larger than life geode and are closed inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The video below is of Alisha being enclosed inside an enormous Amethyst Geode.

Did I mention that our work is our play and that we always manage to have fun?