Description
Check out the PBS News Hour, where they were so impressed by this amazing artist at our Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, that they did a whole hour show on her! & never had a local New Mexican Puebloan artist been asked, before or since. Being I've always thought of her as a Folk Art artisan, it was no surprise when I heard the news!! PLEASE COPY/PASTE: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/at-santa-fes-international-folk-art-market-culture-is-the-commodity DESCRIPTION: One thing about Mary's jewelry, is that it's all about the vibrant colors that she uses which go into each & every one of her piece's..You have to love color to love her work, where you find how she uses all the beautiful colors of our earth as a pallete to 'paint' (mosaic inlays) her subjects.. This necklace has just about every color which makes it easy to wear with just about every color wardrobe! Called the "Circle of Life" necklace, with the outer edges of the pendant being mosaic inlaid with funky irregular shaped cuts of various materials known to the southwest region with the focus on the Kewa Pueblo. This spiral petroglyph (Circle of Life in the center of pendant) dates back to the Anasazi from Chaco Canyon (New Mexico) & who the Kewa Pueblo people are descendants of. Chaco Canyon dates to the 3rd century CE where the first evidence of long-term human settlement were found to have lived.The spiral is made of black jet & lays embedded in bone. Adding color to the necklace are a total of 4 "barrels" that are stacked with Turquoise,Apple Coral & Serpentine.. The pendant is non detachable & is strung with hand cut Sleeping Beauty turquoise beads that graduate in size & get smaller toward the sterling hook/eye closure. Because this lacks sterling, gives it a nice wearable weight that is easy on the neck(See weights below to decide) A PERSONAL NOTE: Mary's jewelry always captures an audience, since her work is different from any other artist out there & has a signature style that is attached to only her..Once you get familiar with her work, you will be able to spot her work out,even if you were in a room filled with 1000's of pieces from various artists! Her jewelry always has a positive vibe, with no 2 pieces ever being the same! Each are 'One of a Kind" pieces of art! ARTIST: Mary Tafoya TRIBE: Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo Pueblo) WEARABLE INNER LENGTH: 23" (Without Pendant-Length laid horizontally-measured one end to the other) PENDANT SIZE: 2.50" x 2-1/8"(Length Taken From Bale to Bottom) TOTAL NECKLACE LENGTH: About 25.50" WEIGHT: 2.6 Ounces (74 Grams) BARREL SIZE: 11.7 mm & 12.5 mm Round PENDANT MATERIALS: (From Turquoise Bale Clockwise): Green Turquoise(Dyed) Dark Purple: Phosphosiderite Spiny Oyster Shell (Orange) Green Turquoise(Dyed) Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Serpentine (Light Yellow) Spiny Oyster Shell (Orange/Red) Lapis: (Navy Color) Nevada Turquoise (Green) Butternut Squash Serpentine(Marigold Yellow) Spiny Oyster Shell (Orange) Green Turquoise(Dyed) Serpentine
