Artist - Laura Colgan FGAA

Laura’s love of all rocks began as a kid, growing up in a small town in northern Illinois, USA. Teenage life happened and the hobby slid to the backround. Laura studied Pastry Arts in Illinois at Elgin Community College. She utilised that experience coupled with her memorable people skills to support and boost a successful career in food-service management.

Fast forward nearly 15 years, Laura had relocated to Canberra, Australia chasing dreams and still working hard in food service. In 2011 she decided to treat herself to a piece of jewellery - opting to design it and source the stone herself. Searching for the perfect focal stone resulted in the start of a new faceted gem collection, a gorgeous pendant and the desire to learn how these faceted gemstones were cut.

In 2012 Laura joined the Canberra Lapidary Club to learn how to cabochon and facet gemstones. In 2013 she drove 6 hours each way from Canberra to Denniliquin, NSW to collect her first faceting machine and hasn’t looked back since. In 2014 Laura began studying Gemmology through the Gemmological Association of Australia - NSW branch graduating with a Diploma of Gemmology in 2016. Laura has also begun competition cutting, achieving Champion, 1st and highly regarded awards. Utilising her backround in management and staff training, Laura has taken up teaching faceting on occasion at the Canberra Lapidary Club. She finds teaching faceting to be especially rewarding and uniquely challenging.

In her spare time Laura wire wraps in a style reminiscent of fine weaving using copper or sterling silver wire.

The Gemstone Gallery was born as a platform for Laura and other gem artists to share this beautiful and not widely known art with the wider community. She is passionate about faceting unique and special stones which will form part of someone’s story. That story, if cared for and shared, will far outlive us all. That is a beautiful thing.