Octavius and Irma Seowtewa's specialty is extremely fine needlepoint work. Needlepoint and petitpoint work features some of the most minute stone cutting often from the acknowledged masters of stone work, the Zuni of New Mexico. Each stone is carefully cut into a half-moon or oval shape and set in a delicate silver bezel. Octavius and Irma work as a team, one working the silver and the other cutting the stones. This fine needlepoint bracelet is set with 94 stones on a medallion set on two silver wires.

Charlie Bird is a descendant of Santo Domingo and Laguna Pueblos and is not only a master craftsman, but a teacher as well. Fellow Paguate village artists Pat and Christopher Pruitt have benefited from Bird's tutelage. He receives creative insight from the outdoors, and was particularly inspired to do mosaic work years ago by the patterns he saw on a trip to Chaco Canyon, the site of ancient Anasazi ruins. He has perfected a style and technique of mosaic where the stones are exquisitely fitted so close together that there are no apparent gap, as this pair of elegant earrings illustrates.

As with Octavius and Irma Seowtewa, fellow Zuni artists Ryland and Claudia Gasper also work together to create their fine jewelry designs. One cuts the stones; the other creates the silver settings in a style of jewelry called inlay work. Inlay is a process that involves precision cutting to create seamless designs of stone laid next to stone, as in this sunface pin/pendant featuring a traditional design with silver dangles. The design is then set tightly within a silver bezel. The Gasper's designs are delicate works of art, as if they have painted a picture with over 100 inlaid stones.

Take a look at all our great online shops:

www.newmexicocreates.org
www.shopmuseum.com
www.worldfolkart.org