Digging for Crystals Is it Art? The How and Why of Creating a Masterpiece

Digging for Crystals. Is it Art?

Digging for crystals. Is it art? Recreation? An enjoyable vacation pastime? Well, it’s all that and more.

I’d imagine many of you are thinking “why would you want to dig for crystals of any form?” Good question. It’s the end result that makes it worth every ounce of energy you put into it. And the digging is just the start.

It’s not for the faint of heart, that’s true. Most that try it become determined to find the elusive crystal. Some think it’s crazy and leave in a short time. But not for me and my friend. She introduced me to it years ago and yet, we do it again for as long as our bodies will allow us.

Digging for Crystals

On this occasion we were, digging in rain, in mud, on hills, on the ground and we spent a full day and a half of digging. The first day we arrived at noon and stayed until the mine closed. The next day we were there from when they opened at 8 a.m. and closed at 4 p.m. The crystal looks black when they are clear and buried in mud, and white is crystals in a lesser state. Most people go to Hot Springs, Arkansas for the spas, the incredible parks of nature’s best, and shopping. But not us.

On this trip we were looking for boulders more than anything. You’ll see why if you keep reading. We came back with a couple hundred pounds of crystal. Here’s how some of it looks like.

Not exactly what you thought crystals would look like, right? The bag is for our smaller “pretties” we like to call them.

You’ve just started the process folks.

First you have to wash off as much clay as you can. I do mine twice before I get to the next stage. Below, you see one of my dogs, inspecting these curious boulders. The line of crystals in back of the boulders are ones I collected from a previous dig. And that’s not counting the “pretties”. Those you must be gentle with, maybe using a toothbrush to clean them. The picture in the pan is some of the smaller ones and medium ones after the second cleansing.

That’s it? That’s art? Not quite yet.

Then in a plastic container with a lid, you mix a 2-pound bag of Oxalic Acid powder and water, and put it in a place that gets some sun. The warmer it is, the better the liquid works. You place the crystals in, making sure they are covered with the liquid. Then you wait for 3 days while they soak. The liquid can be used again. And to neutralize the acid, it simply takes a box of baking soda.

And the crystal boulders come out looking like this.

This is my bowl of “pretties”.

Here is my bowl of medium “pretties”.

This is a remarkably clear and large crystal point. But I obtained it by other means than digging. The clearer the crystal, the more valuable it is.

These are called “cities”, the larger and clearer the crystals, again, the price goes up.

So what about the art part of this?

Digging for crystals is it art? I personally think all that work is a piece of art. But let me not disappoint you. I took the easy way out, so here is what I made with part of my find from the last crystal dig.