Black Opal with painting

Item Description

A colorful and sculptural black opal miniature from the famous opal deposits at Quilpie. The narrow opal layer features striking and beautiful patches of electric blue, blue-green, red and orange opal with some small gold flashes and rests on iron oxide-tinted sandstone matrix. The contrast between the gorgeous opal colors and the matrix adds pizzazz. From the private collection of internationally known wildlife artist Gamini Ratnavira (http://www.gaminiratnavira.com), who started collecting small mineral specimens many years ago after exposure to the mineral community in his residence of Fallbrook, California. For a number of years, Gamini made mineral watercolors for private collectors on commission for $500 each. For his own enjoyment, he also made watercolor paintings of all of his pieces, and the painting is included here with the specimen (7 x 7 x cm paintings set in custom 14.5 x 14.5 cm frames). This is a fine example of this painting skill.