Lets see, I left off with a really terrible description of the Southwest. So I think I will go back and recap a little bit. We pulled into Santa Fe, New Mexico mid-afternoon on Saturday the 18th. I was in a hurry because the Wheelwright Museum on Museum Hill was having two local Indian artists who created handmade jewelry visiting and talking. I made it with a half hour to spare, got a sweet tour of the exhibit on the original Santa Domingo jewelry artists and then went downstairs and met both Mary Tafoya and Priscilla Augilar.
The original Santa Domingo jewelers made deceivingly beautiful and intricate pieces of jewelry. Their pendants were wonderful thunderbird and other birds designs, with decorative beading strung all the way around the necklace. What you don't see at first is the materials they were using were actually just old pieces of junk they could find. The backings for the small tiny design pieces were made of old battery cases or records. And the small pieces used for things like the tail feathers were really just plastic fork tines or little chunks of plastic strainers or any other piece of junk. That way they could get bright colors and even geometric shapes for their figures or designs. The kids would go out and collect materials, while the parents would ride the train selling these pieces for a mere couple dollars. They then would take their earnings and go trade witht he Navajo or other tribes for other materials as well. Today these pieces are worth 10X what they sold them for and are really good indicators of the times and processes used back then. (in the 1900-1930's) I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the pieces in the exhibit but there were some downstairs that represented what was being made.
After that, I met the two Santa Domingo visiting artists Mary and Priscilla. I didn't chat a whole lot with Mary but I got a bunch of pictures of her pieces. She uses all natural stones for her inlay pieces and likes to find different natural shapes of stones to go with her designs. My favorite piece of hers she called her "water waves." She told me that when she watches the waves on the shore there is always a rainbow of light going through them. Hence the bright colors she inlays throughout her wave designs. Her culture plays a really big part in her pieces, and she learned much of what she knows from helping her parents in their handmade work. I really enjoyed the curving, pointed design that kind of reminded me of some of my pieces.
Her "Water Waves" piece.
I then got to speak with Priscilla, another native Santa Domingo jeweler, who works with sterling silver, natural stones like turquoise, lapis, and pipestone, and many different types of shells. I enjoyed speaking with Priscilla because even though I didn't get many pictures of her work at all, she did explain her process of creating her handmade stone inlay shell pieces. She starts with a large shell and begins by grinding all the spines and spikes until they have a smooth surface to attach the silver and stones too. She then forms and solders her sterling silver bezel onto the shells, where she then attaches her hand-cut stones into the design she desires. After, she explains that there is a ton of grinding on the stones to get to the finish that you see in the pieces. These pieces are incredibly smooth and actually kind of heavy. They are about the size of your palm, so quite large. She also learned from her parents who used to make "thunderbird" pendants starting at the age of 10.
She also creates many other inlay jewelry pieces including an amazing set of "lightning bolt" earrings that I really wanted. Unfortunately I didn't have a spare $190 to spend otherwise they would have been all mine.
However, the lady at the museum who was organizing the event was incredibly helpful to me. Even though she knew I was a poor college student she let me look at and handle and chatted all about tons of pieces in the shop. I even touched an $18,000 dollar piece by Charles Loloma. It was only about 3 inches long. No big deal.
So anyways, after that museum I spent the whole next afternoon wandering what they call Canyon Road and the Plaza area. There are literally more than 80 galleries alone in about 2 square miles. I saw tons of work, chatted with some artists, lots of curators/directors and even had some offer to sell my work. The work has generally moved towards contemporary and there were a ridiculous amount of contemporary paintings, sculpture and lots of silverwork. By the end of the afternoon I was exhausted and saw more art than my eyes could handle. I got quite a few pictures (when I was allowed) and hopefully some new ideas or inspiration.
I really did enjoy Santa Fe which everyone there claimed was the second largest art community next to New York. The place had a very touristy feel, but as one girl told me, Santa Fe either embraces you or spits you out. I'm not sure if I could ever move there but it was lovely, with good weather. And only a few forest fires that kept us from camping.
After partying a little bit in Santa Fe with some sweet locals we met at their black curtain underground bar, we took off towards the Grand Canyon. It really is one of the seven wonders of the world and no picture can do it justice. We hit it at a pretty good time (the first day of summer so no admission fee woop woop) right around sunset so the view was more than amazing. We didn't spend a whole lot of time there but it was good to actually see what all the hype is about. Best way to describe it: HUGE.
After The Grand Canyon came Vegas. Like I said before in a horribly cliche quote: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. But I will say it was really hot, really fun, full of crazy people (watching and the like) and we didn't get married or a random tattoo. Success.
I didn't take any pictures in LA with Megan but we had a nice relaxing recovery weekend just chillin, doing laundry, driving around a little bit and I got my first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean ever when her and I took a late night drive out to Malibu. It was really marvelous to get a fun girls night with pizza and champagne with a wonderful friend I only get to see about once a year. Special thanks to Megan again for letting us visit. Miss you and your crazy humor already.
Monday morning we got up bright and early at the crack of something like 11am and headed north to San Francisco. It was all desert and grape/wine country all the way right up until about 20 minutes to San Fran. Then the temp dropped and the fog was hanging about. We missed the original route to the Golden Gate so we turned around and crossed it there and back. It was covered in fog, but there were still tons of people biking across it and taking pictures. Not great pics but true evidence we were there
Thats where our lovely North PAcific coast started. We jumped on the Coastal Route of Hwy 1 and started looking for a campsite. Ended up in Bodega Bay at Doran something something Park. It was a tiny little strip of land jutting out into the ocean. Sounds lovely right? Except it rained all night, our campsite was a small pile of dirt right next to some crazy hobos, and we woke up completely floating on our air mattress. My purse, phone, and camera were soaked, but luckily somehow salvaged. My phone has been soaked twice now and the little brick is still chugging. Can't complain, but they do always say third times a charm. Who knows.
It was still raining when we packed up and took the winding coastal route all the way to the Eureka, California. I would highly recommend the route, but plan on taking your time. It was incredibly beautiful and I am glad we took it even though it was raining. It was what I always imagined California, much more than LA and the palm trees.
The next stop was the Redwoods National Forest. We spent a couple days here camping and driving around trying to see everything. I don't really know how to describe them or the forest, but its like the best fantasy combo of the coast and forest. When you walk around in them you feel incredibly small, and I thought it reminded me of Ferngully. Denny has no idea what I am talking about, but I could live in the movie Ferngully. By far one of the best places to visit along with Maine.
Can you see Denny?
Can you find Denny in this one??
This is Trillium Falls in the Redwood National Forest. Straight out of Ferngully for sure.
I have lots more pictures of the forest of course but it was one of both of our favorite spots. After that we drove up the interstate to Portland where we are relaxing and wandering for some of the holiday weekend? I think we are going up to Seattle tomorrow to check out some more interesting stuff and hopefully some local art hotspots. Probably camp.
So thats it for this update. Happy 4th of July weekend! Hope everyone is safe and lovely and enjoying the holiday. See you all soon! Love and miss you all! I leave you with a California sunset.
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