I spent summers at a lake cabin. My sisters and I would scavenge stones from the shores. We’d dig our toes into gold-flecked sand and watch the shimmer dissipate in the water. Our thrill was finding stones ribboned with gold. We’d proudly show them to family elders who scoffed “that’s just fool’s gold, not worth anything”. Our desire to explore never left us. I live in the PNW in a bounty of stones on shores and riverbeds. I also live in the city where prospectors fledged to find their fortunes. Working as an artist is like prospecting. Some ideas are fool’s gold dead ends. Others lead to gold nugget bodies of work. The process is fraught with internal and external voices that sow self-doubt. I wanted to create a collage that invites the viewer to experience the tension and delight of prospecting and discovery. As the viewer sees the piece from various angles, the light changes and “gold flecks” appear and disappear into the bubbles of a riverbed. In the end the reward is a gold stone.