New digs for natural art

Butch and Maria Vallee know the rock business inside and out. In the mid-’90s the two owned a mine in Brazil, but the mining business is high risk.

“Mining is the only thing that makes owning a boat seem cheap,” Butch Vallee says.

The Vallees began a wholesale rock distribution business, but Butch began to feel like he was missing something by just selling a product. As a geological aficionado, Vallee found himself wanting to share his passion for rare minerals with the world.

“My heart always went to the more spectacular stuff, the more artsy pieces,” Vallee said. “I found myself collecting all the rarest stuff.”

The Vallees decided to grab hold of their dreams and founded a natural art gallery, Crystal Image, which has been a prime destination on Forest Avenue for the past five years. As the name suggests, the gallery is chock full of beautiful geological rarities.

Crystal Image is now reinventing itself as it transitions into a new gallery space. The Vallees didn’t have far to move the many pieces: literally across the street from the old one.

It will mean a reduction in size — from 6,000 square feet to 2,200 — from their original two story space, but they are excited to move into an area that will be more manageable.

“We were the largest natural art gallery in the world,” Vallee says. “Now we’re just trying to be the most beautiful.”

Vallee said that only a small fraction of the gallery’s guests ever ventured upstairs and this will allow them to put more impressive pieces together.

Brian Cook, a partner in the business who himself owns Brazilian mines, says the move will allow them to push themselves in terms of the gallery’s presentation.

“It’s given us an opportunity to refine all of the aesthetics and experience we have. It’s a phoenix rising,” he says.

The new Crystal Image was officially open for the December First Thursdays Art Walk, and the natural wonders they’ve packed into the gallery are enough to keep rockhounds giddy for hours.

“We have access to some amazing things coming out of the earth,” Cook said.

The storefront holds a lucid 650-pound orb of quartz crystal, a hefty chunk of stone. The gallery’s walls are lined with crystal geodes, fossils and shaped rocks. Crystal Image is even home to the largest uncut emerald in the world.

Large crystals are transformed into art in cast bronze sculptures designed by Vallee and bronze worker Jim Vilona. They’re artworks that are thousands or even millions of years in the making deep in the Earth’s crust.

Many of the gallery’s art pieces designed around the Earth’s natural sculptures are by local Laguna artist Larry Gil.

Works can also be commissioned. Vallee says if there’s a way to make a customer an item with their crystals, they’ll do it. But many visitors are drawn to the even more spectacular.

There is a display of fossilized dinosaur eggs and the fossilized skeleton of an ancestor to the triceratops — always a crowd favorite.

For the opening in the new space, Crystal Image was able to secure a very rare Stygimoloch skull fossil, one of only two in the world. The other is privately owned, and this one is the only one on public display.

The Stygimoloch, which is Latin for horned devil, was a cretaceous period dinosaur with a spiny head. The odd cranium would be the epitome of what one might imagine a dragon looked like.

The shop is also known for its array of meteorites. Crystal Image is one of the largest meteorite dealers is the Western United States.

Vallee says there’s something special about holding an object that has literally traveled the galaxy. The chunks of celestial heavy metal are a popular draw.

“It’s older than the beginnings of the Earth. Everyone should have a meteorite,” Vallee said.

The pieces are all part of trying to take the breath out of visitors.

“If we do our job right, they’re sharing in our passion,” Vallee said.

Unlike many galleries and museums, Crystal Image isn’t shy about letting people touch the mineral artifacts. In fact, Vallee encourages it.

Vallee and the rest of the staff are always willing to answer whatever questions visitors might have.

The gallery has now become a destination for school classes and scout troops. It’s an opportunity for hands-on geology education. Each child that visits Crystal Image can search through a treasure chest for a polished stone.

Since the gallery’s inception five years ago, more than 75,000 children have gone home with stones.

“Education first,” Vallee says. “The sales will follow.”

Crystal Image is now at 218 Forest Ave. For more information, visit www.thecrystalimage.com.