Toh-Atin Gallery

@ Pasadena Indian Show This Weekend

admin — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:42:11 +0000

Pasadena Indian Show

May 18th and 19th

We will be in Pasadena, California this coming Saturday and Sunday, May 18th and 19th, for the Pasadena Indian Show, which has been renamed, “The West.”

The Pasadena Show was started in the 1960’s and, for many years, was one of the premier Native American art shows in the country. The show drew the best dealers, Hollywood stars and collectors from across the country. I remember the first time I was at the show, Joni Mitchell came by the booth and talked for a while, and the first time I met Ali McGraw was at this show. What a nice woman! It wasn’t too many years afterwards that she looked in Ryan O’Neal’s eyes and said, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Apologies to the younger readers, but in the early 70′s “Love Story,” was the hot film.

I remember being a little starstruck as recording artists and movie stars wandered about the show, acting like normal people. I’ve since found out that, for the most part, they really are normal people. And, Ali McGraw is actually a fixture in the Indian art business today. You can meet her too, at Fredrico’s booth at the Whitehawk show in Santa Fe. But I digress…

During the last 5 or 6 years, the Pasadena show has been making a comeback. The quality of the dealers and the return of collectors to the newly remodeled convention center in Downtown Pasadena has once again created a quality show where you can see an amazing variety of Native American art along with relics of the west.

We will be showing some exciting new acquisitions of “old” pieces of jewelry, Navajo rugs and we also are featuring two wonderful creations of Navajo jewelry by Jeanette Dale, one made with high grade Bisbee Turquoise and one made with gold and silver ore from the Stony Pass Mine near Silverton, Colorado. These are wonderful looking jewelry that you won’t see anywhere else! We’ll also have exciting new paintings by Leland Holiday.
So, don’t miss the show!
The link for the show is:

http://www.indianartsmarkets.com/
Thanks for following our newsletter and blog. And thanks for making me think about Love Story!
“Loving Native American Art means you never have to say you’re sorry! You have good taste!”

Jackson

“Spring Gallery Walk” Tomorrow Evening

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 21:17:35 +0000

We had fun at “First Thursday Art Walk“, with more fun to come, including:

“Spring Gallery Walk” Friday evening, from 5 until 9, which will include live Bluegrass music,

plus Mother’s Day sale on Jimmy Poyer jewelry this week only.

Wow, we had a good time at the “First Thursday Gallery Walk” this last week with Harvey Abeyta, Priscilla Nietoand their daughter Sabrina demonstrating the making of traditional Santo Domingo shell and stone jewelry. What a fabulous display of jewelry they had! As promised, we are putting a nice selection of their work on our web site today. These are rare artists and nothing is as traditional or as lovely as Santo Domingo jewelry! If you weren’t here on Thursday, you can see some of their work here.

Click these images to see their jewelry

It was such an interesting evening that are hosting another husband and wife jewelry team for Spring Gallery Walkthis Friday. Navajo silversmiths Sylvana Apache and Randy Sacatero will be at the gallery from 5 until 9 this Friday demonstrating a unique style of jewelry that they have developed combining copper and silver to create a unique contrast.

This is not as simple as you’d think, even for accomplished silversmiths, as the two metals have different melting points, solder differently and are difficult to combine. It has taken Randy and Sylvana years to perfect the style.

It’s going to be a lively and unique evening. We’ll have the whole shooting match set up in the gallery, from soldering torches, stamping and cutting tools to buffing equipment. These are great people and you’ll enjoy visiting with them. You just might see a piece or two of their jewelry that has to be yours or would make a nice gift for Mom!

To add to the fun, local bluegrass musicians Kathryn Lunsford, Russel Hooten and Dan Peha will play from 5 – 8 pm Friday.

In honor of Mother’s Day, we are offering 20% off on all Jimmy Poyer jewelry all this week. (Don’t forget that Mother’s Day is next Sunday!)

Thank you for following our newsletters!

See you Friday night for one of Durango’s favorite evenings on the town!

Jackson Clark

A Personal Story

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:07:16 +0000

Making a Difference
Some of you knew my father, Jackson Clark Sr. Some of you have read his book, “The Owl in Monument Canyon.” Some of you have heard of him as a Navajo weaving expert and some of you never heard of him at all.

He had a lot more to give when he died of prostate cancer in his early 70’s. This newsletter is not about him, but about what happened to him. To everyone that has followed our email newsletters or blog, please know that this is the one time every year that you will receive a personal request and story like this. I won’t be offended if you skip it, but I will appreciate it if you’ll read on. Thank you!

Jackson II

Quick Lunch, Long Conversation

This spring, I was driving from Salt Lake City to Durango after a meeting at the Museum of Natural History of Utah. I stopped at a fast food restaurant to grab a quick lunch and was standing in a pretty long line when a man, slightly older than

I am, asked me, “Are you a Survivor?”

Initially, I didn’t understand what he meant, then he pointed to the yellow “Livestrong” band that I wear.I answered, “No. Thankfully, I am not. I just try to raise money for the organization by riding in a bike race once a year.”

Then I saw that he had a yellow wrist band on as well.

“Are you a survivor?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “And I want to thank you for what you do. I am alive today because of the guidance I got from the Livestrong organization.

“They’ve lost a lot of support,” he added, “because people don’t understand that it’s not about Lance Armstrong. Livestrong is about helping people with cancer.”

We talked for about thirty minutes, letting the other patrons go around us. Eight years ago he had been given a few months to live. Someone suggested he call Livestrong.

He did and Livestong, at no cost to him, gave him advice on who to contact and sent him material that guided him to the correct source of treatment. Today, eight years later, thanks to the support he got, he is still alive and living with his cancer.

“My doctor told me I was done. Livestrong gave me hope and helped me find the treatment I needed. This week, I helped my daughter and granddaughter move to Salt Lake from San Diego. I have to take treatments every two weeks, but it’s better than being on the wrong side of the grass!

“And who knows, they may find a cure for this before my treatments aren’t effective anymore. But without Livestrong, I would never have known my granddaughter.”

“I don’t understand what Lance Armstrong did and I don’t care,” he added. “It is not about a bike race, it’s about saving people’s lives and helping them face cancer.”

We shook hands, I wished him well and he thanked me again.

The difference between this man’s story and my father’s is not so unusual for cancer victims.

My dad skipped an annual checkup. When he found out he had prostate cancer, he went to the wrong doctor, got the wrong treatments and spent a miserable few years, slowly watching his body fall apart.

Back then, there was no Livestrong organization. I often think about what his life would have been like if he’d had the help that they provide for hundreds of thousands of people every year.

This year, for the third time, I will be riding the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, a road race that goes from Durango, Colorado to Silverton, Colorado. It is nearly 60 miles, goes over two 10,000 foot passes and has about 3 miles of downhill. I am asking for sponsors to raise money for Livestrong.

Last year, I asked for $1. Just $1 for every person you know that has been affected by cancer. I made that same donation. Unfortunately, this year, my personal donation will double. It is discouraging to see what happens to lives and people when cancer attacks. But it feels so great when you meet one of those people who were able to face the disease and continue to thrive.

And that is what makes Livestrong the organization it is. Livestrong helps people face cancer. If you know someone who has cancer or who has a family member or a friend with cancer, Livestrong can help.

Please donate $1 (that is one buck) for every person you know who has been affected by cancer. If you don’t know someone who has been hit with this terrible disease, you should send a couple of thousand, just out of gratitude! Unfortunately, I doubt there is anyone in that group!

We don’t all live in the same town or state or participate in the same sport, in fact, some of us are not sports people at all, but as a part of Team LIVESTRONG we’re united by hope, courage and determination. The money we raise will support the LIVESTRONG programs and services that help people face the challenges of cancer, head on, and live life on their own terms. Learn more at LIVESTRONG.org/GetHelp.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! To donate, go to:

http://laf.livestrong.org/goto/jclark

Jackson Clark

My Favorite Sculpture-Ganado

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:58:58 +0000

My Favorite Sculpture-Ganado Red

Anyone who has worked with a piece of modeling clay and tried to create a three dimensional object that someone else could recognize understands how difficult it is to become a sculptor.

The artists who create beautiful bronze sculptures are a dedicated lot. They build metal armatures and work with wax to envelope the metal with a form that tells their story. Then they cast it into bronze and oversee the patina that is applied to the metal.

At Toh-Atin, we are lucky to work with some of the finest sculptors in the country. Kevin McCarthy is well known for his portrayals of Native American warriors and hunters. His recent piece “The Survivor” is a powerful interpretation of a Buffalo, driving has body forward.

Joe Cajero, a Jemez Pueblo artist, creates both clay and bronze pieces. His spiritual figures and angular animals have received top awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum Market.

George Walbye is one of the original founders of the Loveland Sculpture Show. No subject is out of reach for George. His work has been chosen for permanent exhibit at the Loveland Sculpture Garden.

These artists are some of the nicest and most creative people you will ever want to meet. But, of all the bronzes that we have sold since the opening of the gallery, my favorite is by Star Liana York.

I first met Star when we moved into our new gallery building in 1982. She walked in wearing a cowboy hat and a smile with photos of her work. Several years later, we started carrying her bronzes and we enjoyed a great relationship. Star played polo-cross, a mix of lacrosse and polo, with my sister Antonia and they became good friends.

Times go on and things change and Star and the Gallery parted ways several years ago, but she remains a wonderful friend and one of the artists that we most admire.

While she was showing at Toh-Atin, she created a sculpture that captured my heart. Perhaps it is because our primary business has always been Navajo weaving, but the image of a Navajo woman who has just finished her weaving, shaking her beautiful new creation after just taking off of the loom and the obvious joy on her face, has always grabbed me.

“Ganado Red’ was created by Star in 1994 and it has been sold out for years. This particular sculpture, number 30 of 35 , measuring 33 inches x 24 inches was sold by the gallery to a wonderful couple from Tucson who put it in a bay window overlooking the desert hills.

Just recently, the couple decided to move to a smaller home where they won’t have room for the lady from Ganado. They have decided to let her move on to someone else who can enjoy her.

This is they type of art that makes you feel good. How could you possibly have a bad day when it starts out seeing the joy and satisfaction on this Navajo weaver’s face.

We are delighted to be able to once again offer my favorite sculpture, “Ganado Red” for sale. She can move in with you for only $9200.00.

Jackson Clark

Skyhorse Tales from Siberia

admin — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:23:00 +0000

Skyhorse Tales from Siberia, Mongolia and Lake

Durango this Tuesday at Toh-Atin Gallery

April 16th at 7 pm

Lisa and Loren Skyhorse of Durango are considered to be among the finest Saddle Makers in the United States. Their saddles are collected all over the world. In addition to that, they are just great people, and unselfish humanitarians. They are always generous with their knowledge and skills and have helped many, including prison inmates, to learn to make beautiful saddles.

Saddles are their passion and the continuation of the art form has long been one of their focuses. For the past several years, they have been participating in a special program that takes them to places like Mongolia and Siberia to teach the art of Saddle Making.

They have raised money to buy tools and supplies for people in these countries, and have donated vast amounts of personal time to help insure that the art form is not lost.

On Tuesday, April 16, at 7 pm, Loren and Lisa will be at Toh-Atin Gallery to talk about their adventures, show some pictures and introduce Seremei, the master Altai saddle maker and metal worker from Siberia along with some of his friends. Altai has never been out of Siberia before and is very excited about being in Durango with Lisa and Loren. Please join us for what will be a fun and fascinating evening!

Thank you for following our newsletter and blog!

Jackson Clark

How to tell a good Pueblo Pot, from a not so good one!))

admin — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:08:46 +0000

How to tell a good Pueblo Pot, from a not so good one!))

Pueblo Pottery is one of the oldest of the Southwestern Native Art forms. Of the indigenous tribes of the Early Southwest, the Anasazi, ancestors of today’s Pueblo people, made the finest pottery.

While it was utilitarian, it was usually elaborately decorated with much care and artistic ability. Imagine making a bowl to cook in or carry water with that you knew wouldn’t last more that a couple of weeks and yet taking the time to carefully create a beautiful design to embellish the looks of the piece.

Today’s Pueblos’ create even more beautiful pieces of pottery, but not to use, rather entirely as pieces of art.

How do you you tell what is a good piece of Pueblo pottery? It’s a subjective question, and here is a subjective answer.

First of all, if you really like it, it doesn’t matter what the rules are. That is the most important reason to buy and type of art.

However, there are some basic rules that beginning “pot hunters” can follow to help insure that they are getting a quality piece.

Is the pot uniform and even? If the finish on the pot uniform? Are the designs well painted with smooth lines? Is the thickness of the pot walls uniform. Is there a signature on the piece and if so, are you paying for the artist’s reputation rather than the same quality pot from a lessor known artist?

Let’s look at each of these questions.

Pueblo pottery is formed in the coil method, which basically means that long strands of clay are rolled out (like you used to do with Play Dough) and then coiled around to make a pot. There is no wheel to create a uniform shape, it has to be done, carefully and slowly, by the artist’s hands. When the pot reaches it’s full shape and is left to dry before polishing, the sides, height of the lip and base of the pot should all be even and uniform.

The polishing is done with a smooth rock that is rubbed on the wet outer surface of the pot, smoothing the finish. In some pots, it is easy to see the individual lines made by the polishing stone. In a good pot, it is not. The finish on a Santa Clara or San Ildefonso pot is going to be different that the finish on an Acoma of Santo Domingo pot because the later cover the polished surface with a clay slip which, when fired, is hard and shiny. The clay slip will have a dull finish and will cover slight imperfections in the polishing process.

The designs on Pueblo pottery are painted on using yucca brushes (or today small commercial art brushes). In traditional pottery, the designs are made by painting on the surface of the pot with clay slips. In some places, like Jemez Pueblo, this is sometimes not true. The designs are painted on after the pot is fired with acrylic paint. Again, whenever the designs are painted on, they should be made up of smooth lines.

A quality potter keeps the walls of her work even in size. This is easy to tell by simply running your finger and thumb around the opening and down the sides of the pot. In many pots that are not polished inside, you can actually feel the indentations made by the potter’s fingers as they shaped the piece. This does not take away from the pot, in fact, I like to feel the imprints those fingers lovingly made.

Sometimes a great artist does a not so good pot. Collector’s realize this and won’t buy a not so good piece of work just because it is made by a “name” potter. For the beginning collector, the rule of thumb is to buy to best pot you can afford, no matter who made it. If you are spending $500.00 and you can buy a Maria Martinez with a scraped off signature and a blemish on the side or a piece that is beautifully made by a young artist, it is always better to buy the better piece. In the long run, your investment is more secure and you will enjoy the beauty of the piece more than knowing it has some famous person’s signature.

Firing marks, or blemishes on the surface of the pot are an interesting exception, I think. This is something that happens when oxygen gets to the pot. These pieces are (traditionally) fired outside under piles of sheep manure or Pinyon. Sometimes the wind will blow and the pot will be touched by fire, resulting in a “firing mark.” I actually find these pleasing in many pots and some of my favorite Hopi pots have distinct fire marks. But, if you are buying a pot whose maker was trying to get a “gunmetal finish” and it didn’t work, that is an entirely different animal.

Unfortunately for the collector, many pots are now being fired in kilns. This uniform firing leaves no firing marks. I would personally prefer the subtle changes in the surface of a pot from the open firings.

Finally, remember these are works of art, not containers made to hold pencils, water, spare change or left over candy wrappers. They should be treated with care and picked up with two hands. Your rings can scratch the surface of a pot, so use your fingertips to pick them up and never pick up a pot by the rim, especially a large one. You risk the danger of the weight of the piece causing the pot to crack or break. When packing a pot, but sure to first wrap it in plastic wrap before packing it in crumpled newspapers or peanuts. The plastic will protect the finish of the pot!

Let us know what you would like to know next!

Thanks for following our blog!

Jackson Clark

Stanton Englehart, Mixed Media Show April

admin — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:45:23 +0000

Stanton Englehart, Mixed Media Show

Thursday, April 4th, 5 – 8 pm.

Fans of the late Stanton Englehart will not want to miss this unique showing of the artist’s mixed media paintings. These were special paintings that Stanton enjoyed creating, using a mixture of watercolor, pencil, ink, pastels, gold leaf, and “special ingredients,” as the artist used to say.

The show consists primarily of smaller paintings, most under $1000.00, which were created by someone we consider to have been one of America’s most creative artists. He was an amazing man whose work, life and teaching at Fort Lewis College reached and changed the lives of thousands of people. He was proud of the work that he did and yet had no desire for the trappings of fame.

Many Southwest Coloradoans knew Stanton as a fellow cyclist, an avid fly fisherman and a poignant philosopher. He had never been represented in a gallery until Toh-Atin opened its 9th Street location in 1982. We were honored when he chose us. Over the years he regularly turned down invitations from some of the top galleries on both the east and west coasts. “Thank you,” he’d reply to their inquiries, “but I am happy right where I am.”

Thousands of people have seen and appreciated Stanton’s dramatic large oil canvases that hang at Toh-Atin Gallery, at the Center for Southwest Studies and the Community Concert Hall. Additionally, his paintings adorn the walls of almost every public building in Durango, because his community spirit and generosity made that possible. Sometimes these powerful and dramatic pieces overpower his smaller mixed media paintings when they are shown together. But, it really is a matter of focus. When you look deeply at one of these small Southwestern Landscapes, the genius of a man who could create such a statement in a small and dynamic format is evident.

We have planned this show for some time, but last night something happened that, once again, made me appreciate Stanton. I took a friend of mine to the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center. In the back part of the ER, where they have the individual rooms in which patients are treated, the hallways are decorated with quiet and peaceful mixed media paintings by Stanton Englehart. I’d never thought about art being an integral part of an emergency room, but as I waited for my friend I reflected on how these beautiful pieces could help someone through an emotional and physically difficult time. There aren’t many more stressful places than an emergency room and Stanton’s paintings are a perfect balance to that stress.
Every year until his death, Fort Lewis College had a show featuring his work. We are continuing that tradition at Toh-Atin Gallery and invite you to join us on the “First Thursday Art Walk”, April 4th, from 5 until 8 pm. I will be giving a short talk and sharing some memories of Stanton, beginning at 5:30.

We look forward to seeing you! If you can’t make the show, the paintings will be posted on our web site on Thursday.
Thank you for following our newsletter and blog!

Jackson Clark

Weaving Show and Sale

admin — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:38:49 +0000

Toh-Atin Gallery and Museum of Natural History of Utah Present A Benefit Silent Auction of Navajo Weaving

April 13th, 2013

On April 13, we will be presenting a fund raising silent auction and sale of Navajo weaving at the gorgeous new Museum of Natural History of Utah, in Salt Lake City.

Here is what is happening:

We will be displaying around 100 weavings that will be for sale, for one day only, between 10 am and 5 pm. The weavings will have a minimum bid on them and buyers can raise their bids during the day with the top bid at 4:30 pm winning the weaving. A great twist to this auction is the “Buy it now” option. If a weaving does not have a bid on it, it can be purchased for 20 percent over the minimum at any time during the day. So, if you don’t want to wait until the end of the day, or take a chance on the price going up, you can buy your favorite weavings outright.

We will have Mae Jim’s famous Ganado weaving on display. The piece is nearly 10 feet by 15 feet and toured museums in the United States and Europe as part of the “Lost and Found Traditions Show”. It was woven in 1984 and is one of the finest large weavings ever made.

Here is the schedule for the day:

(All events, except the lecture, will take place in The Canyon)

10 am - The show opens. Registration and bidding begin.

All day - Southwestern Textile Restorations will give free estimates on cleaning and repairing your weavings. We will have a secure area where you can leave them while you browse the weavings and attend the lecture.

11 am to 1 pm – Free rug evaluations by Jackson Clark II.

3 pm – “Threads of Time” lecture by Jackson Clark, a discussion of the history of Navajo peoples and the evolution of their textiles within the context of time. – Community Room

4:30 pm – Auction Ends

This is going to be an interesting, fun day. We are looking forward to returning to the location of one of our first fund raising shows, although this will be different in a very special way. When we did shows at Utah Museum of Natural History in the 1970’s, the Museum was located in an old building on the University of Utah campus. My sister, Antonia, attended college there (when she wasn’t skiing) and she had a good friend who was on the board of the Museum. She set it up for us to do a series of fund raising exhibits at the Museum. They were successful fundraisers and we made a lot of lifetime friends there.

Today, the Museum is in one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. I spent two hours there with the director and staff last fall and we toured the whole museum. I am certain there were some wonderful exhibits, but I can’t remember any of them because I was so mesmerized by the building!

It is designed like a series of Utah’s beautiful slot canyons, all radiating from a central large canyon. A glass wall that is at least five stories high offers displays from the Museum’s collection. I’ve been in a lot of museums and this is, without a doubt, the most amazing one I have had the opportunity to visit.

So, if you aren’t from the Salt Lake area, hop a plane, jump in your car or fire up that motorcycle and come to the Rug Auction and Sale! We look forward to seeing you there on April 13th!
Thank you for following our newsletter and blog!

Jackson Clark

A Guest Story, “The Wood.” ENJOY!

admin — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:15:46 +0000

This is a guest blog from LISL DENNIS. Lisl has extensive life experience and tells wonderful stories. We thought that you would enjoy one of them!!

Lisl writes a blog called, “Story Shards.”

Enjoy!

As summer creeps up on us and the wood pile at the family mountain cabin where I live dwindles, I am often reminded of how much went into creating that stack of wood and how much I enjoyed it. A few years ago, I wrote a story about the annual wood gathering trip and I thought some of you might enjoy a break from my writings on Native American Arts. Here it is:

THE WOOD

Every fall, beginning when I was 13 or so, it was a family tradition to go out and cut firewood. My Dad always had a fascination with chain saws. My mother was always afraid that he’d hurt himself, cut his leg off or something equally as bad. She finally gave up and called a friend of theirs to go with her to the hardware store and buy one as a gift for Dad’s birthday in August.

The friend was named Chain Healy and he was kind of a rugged outdoors looking sort of person, but I doubt he’d ever seen the handle end of a chain saw. They did end up with one. It was small, green in color, sort of cute looking. My mother gave it to my father with the admonition to “be careful.” It may not have been the tree killer he’d thought about, but he was really excited. He took it out into the carport, pulled the cord and yanked the chain around 180 degrees where it smacked him in the leg. Luckily, it hadn’t started and he got away with a couple of puncture wounds.

He never told my mom and he swore me to secrecy.

The first couple of years, the outings were pretty small undertakings. We had a fireplace, but it was used mostly for the visual effects a burning fire provided. Once, Dad bought a “Texas Grate,” which was supposed to hold the logs in a certain position and throw heat into the room. I don’t remember that it worked very well, but he seemed to think it was indispensable. Maybe it was, I just don’t know.

It was after I was in college that things got serious. By then he’s graduated to a Swedish chain saw that “cut like a hot knife going through soft butter,” according to Dad.

The first year I was back in town after college, the expedition took on a serious note. Several people would bring pickup trucks, chain saws, axes and splitting malls were loaded up and we’d head to this land north of town that my folks owned a partnership interest in. It was covered with old dead pine trees, some over a hundred feet tall.

The chain saws would bring them down, we’d cut them into wheels and the people with axes would split them, load them into the trucks and take them to the homes of everyone involved.

When I married, the novelty of an assault on the forest had receded, but we all had wood stoves or fireplaces. Some of us used them to help heat our homes, some of us just built fires to enjoy, but they all required wood. For years it would just be my father and mother, my wife and me and sometimes my sister and her boyfriend heading to that same spot in mountains. After our kids were born, they’d come along, toddling and backpacked until they were old enough to walk. We always had a couple of family dogs along to complete the group.

We quit splitting the wood and just cut it into wheels to take it downtown where we’d pile the round sectioned pieces of tree trunks in my parent’s driveway. The idea was that once you got it out of the mountains, you could take your time splitting it into firewood. This usually provided several weeks of exercise.

I don’t remember when it was that I realized that the best part of “making wood” as my Navajo friend Clifford would say, wasn’t the part with the chain saw. They are dangerous, fun, loud, dangerous, remarkable machines. Imagine the pioneers doing that work by hand. But they made it easy. Sure, it was hard on your arms and back, but the saw did the work. If you treated the equipment well, it would just keep going and get the job done, All you had to do was guide it and take care of it. My saw is 26 years old and it has cut through hundreds of trees. I like it as a tool and have replaced parts in it rather than getting a new one as I feel a kind of closeness to it, even if it is Japanese and has a funny name.

I love going into the hills, felling a tree and cutting it into sections, but the chain saw’s effort isn’t really something that I can feel an accomplishment about. It is, to be certain, skillful use of a dangerous tool, but the tool does most of the work.

That isn’t the part of the ritual I really enjoy.

When the wheel of wood sits in front of you, when you have an ax or a maul in your hands, that’s when it starts. Years ago, I’d just hit the wood as hard as I could, hoping to find the spot where it would split. I’m not talking about easy splitting firewood like cedar or oak. No, it needs to be a Spruce trunk or a wheel of Pine. Something that doesn’t just crack apart at the first shot. While those other woods make great firewood, they don’t do much for your character.

You need to look at the grain of the wood, look at where the branches joined the tree, search for small cracks, small openings that indicate a weakness. It isn’t so important to hit the wood with everything you can muster, but rather, in the right place with enough strength to cause it to weaken. You search for that spot, carefully planning the stroke and then trying to follow the picture in your mind with your arms and shoulders, visualizing the point you are going to strike. Maybe the log will give, maybe it won’t, you probe other spots, look for seams that you might have opened, move around the stump, always searching for that one spot where your ax causes the wood to crack, listening for that sound, feeling the ax sink into the wood. Sometimes it goes in to easily and you have to pry it out. Sometimes it almost bounces off of the wood. Sometimes you have a feeling for a certain spot, hitting it several times and sometimes you lose your patience and just pound on the wood before you come back to your senses and realize you’re just wearing yourself out. The wood doesn’t care if you are angry or frustrated.

If you are patient and persistent, you can win. You can hear the wood break it’s seams and split apart. Once the first crack is made in the wheel, you move quickly, finding the new openings created by the missing piece and soon, the wheel breaks into pieces of firewood. You’ve done it all, with your muscle, your effort, your mind, you have taken that structure away from the tree, tamed it if you will. You’ve won, because you deserved to win. It is a feeling of complete satisfaction.

I always believed that every wheel could be split. That every piece of wood had it’s key, it’s special spots that would unlock it’s hold on itself. Sometimes you’d fail, sometimes you’d let it rest a day or so, but it was always there. That one spot that, if the angle was just right, would open up the tree and give way to your desire to open it up. A lot of times, I’d get frustrated and have to leave a wheel for an hour, a day or even longer, but every wheel could be opened.

And then one year I proved that wrong. The wheel was from a huge tree, probably four or more feet across. It didn’t look any different from the rest of the tree, but it just wouldn’t give, or at least I was unable to make it give. I left it that day and came back the next. It was in my parents’ driveway, out of the way, so when I couldn’t make it happen, I didn’t worry about it. I knew I’d find the secret. Once I thought about cutting it in half with the chain saw, but I decided that wouldn’t be right.

I’d drive up to my parents house at lunch time and try a new spot. I turned it over, tried from every angle. It wouldn’t give. Finally winter came and snow covered the wheel. When we were over at their house, I’d look out the window and see the soft pile of white on top of the wood and think about spring and when it dried out how I would finish the job.

It was a wet winter, really wet and it lasted a long time. I was busy in the spring and forgot about it until around May when I drove into the driveway and saw it sitting there.

You could see every cut I had made with a blade, every small chip that had come out, the wood had turned gray, but there were no new cracks or weaknesses.

I went to the tool shed and got my dad’s splitting maul and gave it a try. It wouldn’t give. I decided that I was wrong, not every wheel can split. Probably some aren’t supposed to give. I lifted it up on end and rolled it to the edge of the hill where I laid it down flat again. Then I carefully slid it off the edge, preventing it from breaking loose and rolling down the hill, until it was in a clump of wild oak brush.

I suppose it is there today, probably rotted away. That’s the only time I lost and I think about it every time I chop wood. Maybe someday I’ll find another piece of wood like that. I hope so.

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California Basket

admin — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:06:41 +0000

Over the years, we have been able to offer a wide variety of baskets to our customers. Most often, these pieces are from the Southwest. Navajo, Apache, Pima and Papago (Tohono Odam) pieces are normally what we have in the gallery.

Basketmaking, as it was practiced in the early part of the 20th century, is now pretty well dead. While there are some outstanding basket weavers working today, the number of weavers is only a small fraction of the number that once created these beautiful pieces.
Baskets are somewhat unique in that they can’t be duplicated by a machine. You can weave rugs, create jewelry and cast pottery but you can’t make a basket with a machine.

Some of the finest Native American baskets were created by California tribes. This last weekend, I was lucky enough to run into a near perfect example of a grass basket made by a member of the Hupa Tribe of California. They are located just south of Yosemite National Park. This basket, which rests on a woven base that is part of the piece, was woven in the early 1900’s. These pieces are delicate and seldom have survived a century in this great condition.

The basket is made with a weft of Redbud, Beargrass and Maidenhair Fern. The warp, which in this basket, unlike most Southwestern baskets, runs top to bottom, is made from Hazel branches. The basket is 4.5” tall, 7” wide at the top and 5 .5” wide at the bottom.

Normally, I try and tell some interesting stories about the art pieces we are offering. Unfortunately, I’ve never met a Hupa weaver. So consider this newsletter to be a blatant attempt to sell someone this terrific basket. I don’t know very much about California baskets, but I can tell you this one is a great value and we won’t have it long!

This Hupa basket will make an excellent addition to any collection. It is offered to you at the incredible price of only $450.00.

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Jackson Clark