Santa Fe

I just spent a week in Santa Fe. I'm pretty exhausted right now. I was looking forward to seeing some jewelry and making some connections out there, but barely succeeded.

The jewelry I saw was all the typical turquoise and silver work. Unfortunately, very little of that interested me. I was looking for new/inspired/ingenious designs that might be found in a very artistic and creative community. Almost everything I saw was homogenous. The same thing over and over again. I was a little depressed at the sight of the Native American market in the Santa Fe plaza. I did get one smile from a Native woman whom I complemented on her wire work with her earrings. I attempted to share with her that I do wire work as well, but didn't really get a response.

At the ancient Pueblo, in Taos, we did find one friendly jewelry artisan who talked a little bit about his work. It was only after we left that I thought of a dozen questions I would have liked to ask him. "How long have your people been working with silver and turquoise?" would have been one of them.

I manged to make almost a connection with a Santa Fean. She does glass bead making, and combines her glass pendants with tiny little porcelain bottles for display/storage. We were going to try to network with a sharing of beads/jewelry/porcelain bottles, but on my last day in town, she was not around. Sadness. Perhaps I'll be able to get in touch her.