Sunday, August 26, 2012

Not to be missed

"It's About Time: 14,000 Years of Art in New Mexico" exhibition is now, until January 2014, at the New Mexico Museum of Art, in Santa Fe. It celebrates the Statehood Centennial.
The collection of objects, artifacts, photographs, and paintings is masterful. Thank you Joe Traugott for giving us such a magnificent exhibition!

I'm not an art critic, nor an expert, just passionate about everything New Mexico. I can tell you that this is an experience that brings all your senses alive! Here you meet the most intriguing artists who became famous in different years and are now part of history, the history of art. You can enjoy the variety of pots produced over the centuries to our days, and appreciate the expressions of Native, Hispanic, and European Americans. These 120 works of art help us understand the region's diverse and rich cultures, something one doesn't easily find elsewhere.

The book "New Mexico Art through Time" it's worth the $50. Become a Museums of New Mexico Foundation' member and you save 10% and tax!

Gallup Black-on-White Bowl from Chetro Ketl , circa 1000–1125 CE
A superb example of contemporary ceramist Rick Dillingham
Clovis Point, circa 13,650 – 12,800 BP

Sunday, August 19, 2012

My Indian Market

I had to go one more time to the market. I forgot to see some friends and artists I love. But before I went to El Museo Cultural and the show was really exciting. On top of all the precious pieces from around the world, Folk Art and my beloved Memory Pots, there was an exhibition of Tad Dale's collection of shields, amazing!
Tad Dale's private shields collection

Despite the heat I ran through the booths on the Plaza, with each booth number written on my palm, and met with Mary L.Tafoya. This was a special "memory lane" thing: I bought her first piece, a pin, some ten years ago when she had her first market experience! She is a lovely woman from Kewa Pueblo (ex Santo Domingo) and an incredible innovator. No one does what she does, a unique style. Kind of inspired to the old mosaic designs of the Ancestral Puebloans and to the "depression" necklaces, but with a contemporary twist.

Mary L.Tafoya














On the music stand there were phenomenal Hopi and Acoma dancers and musicians with marvelous costumes, dancing beautifully. Other dancers were coming to the stand for the next dance and, despite the crowd, I was able to capture some images.


























Dancers from Hopi




Dancers from Acoma






 













Street scenes
I also met for the first time a very talented fashion designer, Penny Singer, who was half asleet in the back of her booth, dead tired! I bet! How can they talk to all the people who stop by, ask questions, and want to know about their art? It's exhausting!

Flowers with pots in the background
This wonderful birth day ended on my little terrace on the roof of my casita sipping tea and savoring fresh muffins my friend Marina had just got out of her oven! With us were some emerald green hummingbird happily getting some more food before the night. The source are some flowers I especially planted for them, they are wonderful creatures!

There he is!

The End

PS. My favorite artist, Raymond Sequaptewa, had some pendants to die for, what do you think?


Saturday, August 18, 2012

The 91st birthday of Santa Fe Indian Market

It's August in Santa Fe, therefore it's Indian Market! For me, every year it's like a pilgrimage, a sacred day dedicated to all the wonderful Native artists from around the country. After 22 years of walking through the booths in and around the Plaza I enjoy finding my friends at the same spots and discovering their new creations and, at the same time, going back to the first visits when everything was so new to me!

Keri Ataumbi talking about her new ocean-inspired jewelry

With more energies than I have now, I was able to walk for two days, over and over, trying to read through each and every piece, learning about the works, the lands of origin, and how the artists were inspired to create their specific pieces. Pot after pot, katsina after katsina, not to mention all the jewelry...it was overwhelming!

Indian Market always falls on or near my birthday, another reason to be happy! We all get old, so let's celebrate!

Hard to find someone here!
The last few markets I was with clients. A different way to experience this event. Very intense with the talking and running around but also exciting to see how my guests react...and buy!

Last year...running to corral everybody!

This year I managed my calendar in order to have the market just for myself, and it worked out. What a morning: on the Plaza at 6.30 (the best time for several reasons: it's cool, it's fairly empty, and a lot of fun), most booths still waiting for the artists, a great breakfast at Plaza Restaurant at 9, then on the road again until 12.30. I will be back tomorrow to learn how the market went for my friends.

I have a game I like playing: spot the newcomers and buy what I think it's a new treasure! I'm happy to say that I discovered many such treasures who then became very famous!

This year was a bit different than usual: no drumming at the music stand, more tidy without the non-market vendors all over, easier to explore.

The creativity and the quality is stunning! I discovered new shapes, creative bracelets, fantastic beadwork...can't name everything. For sure, a high-quality market showing improvements in every aspect.

Arviso's booth, the most knowledgeable about turquoise






Pat Pruitt, the king of contemporary
What a treat to feel at home there.