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It’s August, and the excitement is building around one of my favorite events of the year, Santa Fe Indian Market!  Each year Bill and I look forward to reuniting with our friends at the largest Native American Art event in the world!  This will be our 20th Indian Market together, and each year holds special memories for us.  Over the years, we have made it our mission to introduce new visitors to Indian Market, and to Native American Art.  This weekend is spiritual, vibrant, heartwarming, mesmerizing, captivating, and calming all at once!

The artists that Bill and I have come to know and love express their appreciation for how Indian Market gave them the opportunity to introduce their work to a world of Native American art collectors.  Many also share stories of how they literally grew up at Indian Market, in the booths of their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  Jody Naranjo is one of those artists, an award winning 8th generation Santa Clara Pueblo potter.  Bill and I cherish a piece of Jody’s that we purchased at the Gala auction a few years ago, and I remember the special moment years ago when I purchased Jody’s daughter Coral’s first piece at Indian Market, when she was only six years old.  This piece stands among our most treasured pieces, representing the importance of art to the Native American family, and how this incredible passion and artistry lives on through time honored traditions.  While Jody wins multiple prestigious awards and is known worldwide, she is one of the most humble and kind people I know.  Her love of life and gentle spirit shines through in her work.  I am honored that she so enthusiastically embraced the idea of collaborating with me to bring her amazing work to life in her first jewelry line!  I know many of you love her whimsical, yet sophisticated, designs, and I am excited to say we will be introducing a new Jody Naranjo piece (J296827) in our upcoming shows!

Bill and I have long admired the incredible work of Fritz Casuse.  I remember vividly the year we came to know one another in his booth, and I proudly walked away wearing my first Fritz Casuse bracelet!  While strolling the Santa Fe plaza, a group of teenage girls approached me and proudly exclaimed, “We know who made your bracelet, he’s our teacher!”.  Fritz Casuse is not only an award winning Navajo jewelry artist, but an inspiring teacher and mentor in the Native American community.  I love the whole Casuse Family, Fritz’s wife Wanesia, a talented and ever-evolving jeweler herself, and Mosgaadace, their 8-year-old son who holds the key to my heart with his spunk, infectious laughter, and the pride to proclaim his artful talent!!!  Last week, he showed me a sterling silver bracelet he had made that he KNEW I would love to give to our granddaughter, Grace. It was sweetly adorned with uplifting images of the sun and birds, after all!!  He also knew that the initial asking price of $15.89 was too complicated, because he wasn’t carrying any change, so he conveniently rounded it up to $20.00 for Carolyn.  Wise move Moss.  While on his way out of my design studio he suggested, “Carolyn, why don’t I email you the photos of the paintings I made for Indian Market, maybe you should buy them all beforehand”.  I told him I would be honored to have an exclusive sneak peek.  He left with one final belly laugh, his dad’s fedora on his head, and twenty bucks in his pocket!  Fritz and Wanesia, you have raised a mighty loveable one in Moss!!!

Speaking of Fritz... You will not believe the pieces he has designed for this year’s Indian Market!!!!  He was so excited about them that he met with us a few months ago in our design studio to collaborate on bringing them to life for QVC.  That’s right!  We have a chance to purchase these amazing designs BEFORE his original pieces are in his booth at Indian Market!  In all of my years following Fritz Casuse, I have never seen anything like these pieces!  As with all of his work, these are not only breathtakingly beautiful, but spiritual as well.  I am counting the minutes to show time!!

There are so many new items to talk about, including amazing pieces from Kenneth Johnson and Veronica Benally.  And a special collection of Native American Designer charms!  And you Sleeping Beauty lovers will be thrilled as well!  Also, because this is the 20th Santa Fe Indian Market for Bill and I, we wanted to start a new tradition each August on QVC by reproducing some of the pieces we have collected over the years.  The first piece I chose features the sea turtle, set with red coral.  I hope you’ll love it as much as I do!

We’ve heard artists refer to Indian Market as a giant family reunion, and that is truly how Bill and I look forward to this weekend every year.  Visiting each booth, seeing how the kids have grown, hearing new stories of inspiration and incredible craftsmanship, and running into the collectors from around the country we have come to know through our love of Native American art.  Being jewelers, Bill and I are inspired and blessed to be among this passionate American art community.  And we are fortunate to have such special relationships with the artists who share their designs and inspiration with us so that together we can bring them to life for you, our QVC collectors!

Please join Jennifer Coffey and I on Friday, August 8th from 7-9pm ET, and Lisa Robertson and I on Saturday, August 9th from 10pm to midnight ET!  I can hardly wait!

Happy August!

Love,

Carolyn