leather

One guest during my residency mentioned that he liked the larger canvas of a vest better than, say, a small pouch. I think I smiled and nodded at the time. It was towards the end and my desire to take up each and every teachable moment had waned somewhat. I've slept some now so: I don't make my work for entirely decorative reasons.

It's been a long month and my brain is getting sluggish. Fortunately there were many people I liked around today.

I gave an interview and found out how tired I am then headed in to work. Gallery time was relatively uneventful. One lovely man from London came in to chat, as did natoyiininastumiik. The latter was wearing some of my beading, always interesting to see things after I've sent them to their lives. Good conversations were had. The man from London was very well informed, both about art and some obscure Native/Irish history that is generally... well... not known. He also did a thing which reminded me of why this residency has been a bit challenging for me personally. It's something that I forget. I understand why it happens. It does cause some friction sometimes.

On June 18th, during the Cultural Encounters evening event, I sat down with current artist-in-residence, Michael Horse, to find out more about his background and artistic influences. Born near Tucson, Horse is of Yaqui, Mescalero Apache, Zuni, European, and Hispanic descent and comes from an artistically talented family of jewelers, potters, and painters. Not only is he a talented jeweler and painter, but he is also an actor and stuntman who has appeared in many movies including Twin Peaks, Passenger 57, Lakota Woman, and Smoke Signals. His art has been shown internationally as is currently available at the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, the Eiteljorg Museum in Indiana, Kiva Fine Art Gallery in Santa Fe, and Gathering Tribes Gallery in Albany, California.

You may be in for a fun day when you find a hawk feather coming in to work. You may be in for a fun day when your first visitor in the studio asks great questions and listens to the answers. It's been a fun day when a mom tells you that you 'made everyone happy' with some oil pastels and butcher paper (grinning kids and interesting drawings and all).