Kristen + Ari
I began Gems From Faraway Places in 1992. It's a combination of some of my favorite things: Art, Travel + ancient civilizations and artifacts. My degrees are in Art + Foreign Languages, as well as training in Waldorf Education. During my junior year at Ohio Univ. I spent 5 months in Florence, Italy and traveling thru Europe. It felt like "going home" and was full of so many interesting experiences. I was hooked on travel and discovering faraway places!
My genuine gemstone jewelry is sold
in local art galleries, and I've also been invited to sell my jewelry
in Trunk Shows at both Saks Fifth Avenue and Jacobson's. As you'll see
on my site, I keep my prices far below their retail value. Nice to know
that you've found a place to get an artist's Gemstone designs at near
wholesale prices. The designs in my collections were
influenced by these travels and their faraway and ancient cultures.
The lovely gemstones and artifacts I use are from places around
the world with interesting and histories and ambiance.
Some of my Journeys
I LOVE travel and discovering ancient faraway places. Egypt is my favorite (but then again I also LOVE Greece, Tuscany, Nepal ...). I've been to Egypt twice, as of 2003, and I'd love to return. There's so much to explore, and the place evokes such wonderful feelings!
My travels abroad began in '74. I spent 5 months living in Florence with Ohio University. I traveled a little to the British Isles & throughout Europe at that time too. Europe gives me the ambiance and feeling of stepping back in time to the Middle Ages. Such gorgeous Medieval castles and towns everywhere! But when you go to Egypt, it's like nowhere else on Earth. You step back in time THOUSANDS of years B.C.! It's an amazing sort of "transporting" experience! I've also been to Greece and Nepal. They're both ancient and fascinating lands too. And beautiful! Each of my trips is filled with elements of timelessness - ancient memories and experiences surface in detail, like motion pictures.
The photos above are:
Left: Me and my 'buddy' Horus :o) at his temple on a special island in the Nile called Edfu. I had always longed to go to the temple of Horus, and was so incredibly excited that we made it there on my second trip.
Right: An ancient and intriguing stone archway in the Great Pyramid. It really seems to beckon you inside, doesn't it?! The night we arrived on my first journey there, we were staying in the wonderful Mena House Oberoi. It's just enchanting! - the nicest Cairo hotel that used to be a palace. Most special of all, it's the only hotel that's right next to the Giza Plateau! I remember arriving in the hotel room after a LONG overnite trip across the Atlantic. I dropped my bags in the room and went out onto the balcony to take in the night air in Cairo. To my utter amazement I stood frozen - lost somewhere in an ancient time. THERE, in all its majesty and monumental strength was the great pyramid! This mysterious doorway seemed to be gazing out at me, beckoning me.
Strangely, I felt "transported" to a different time and plane. In that moment-out-of-time I heard the perplexing words, "Welcome! We've been waiting for you!"
I stood there in silent amazement. Energies and thoughts seemed to whirl around and thru me. I was gripped with the questions ... Who said that?! And just WHO is the "we"?! ... The voice had said, "We've been waiting for you." ... It was strange, and at the same time very familiar ....
Center: An incredible experience that took place in Nov. '99, my 2nd trip to Egypt. Some of us got up at 5 AM, rented horses & rode out onto the Giza Plateau to watch the sunrise. Breathtaking! What made it even more powerful is the very night before we had been to see the Sphinx, and had an absolutely unforgettable experience. We were allowed inside the normally closed-to-the-public Sphinx Enclosure. For some reason I had been LONGING to walk right up to the Sphinx ever since I began planning the trip - to feel its presence and ambiance as I stood right near it and walked around it. It was almost devastating to me when I heard that people are kept from the immediate area around the Sphinx. It's in its own 'enclosure' that's sectioned off from the public. You stand on a raised walkway around it and look in. It was due to an 'unexpected' glitch that kept Zahi Hawass from being able to meet us that day that this opportunity presented itself. To make up for not being able to meet with us, Zahi gave us special permission to enter the Sphinx enclosure! I was "on cloud 9" - or 29!
It was one more of the many pivotal experiences of timelessness throughout the trip. We were able to walk right up to this megalithic Sphinx - to wander up between its paws and around it. Just incredible! The whole ambiance of that moment seemed 'on fire' with excitement. As if each atom in the very air was sparkling. ...The sun was just beginning to set at the magical moment that we were heading up the Plateau as we left the Sphinx - from one magnificent experience to the next. We were on our way to enter the Pyramid. The dramatic sunset sky echoed my my excitement and the sense of drama as we left the Sphinx and walked up the hill to enter the massive and powerful Great Pyramid. We had it to ourselves for 4 fascinating hours. ...But that is a story of 'transporting' experiences in itself!
The experiences I've had on my trips are far too many to mention. How the Egypt trip so 'magically' came about is a story in itself! My photo albums look like museum Travelogues!
I hope that one day you may be able to travel to such places - if that is your dream! Journey well!
Kristen
Contact me: GemsAndBeyond@aol.com