Tricksters and Conquerors

Photo copyright wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

It is still Turquoise Tuesday at The NDN Silver Blog, and today it's tricksters in pursuit of gold and conquest (aren't they always?). We visit Nevada's Fox Mine (formerly the Cortez), and take a look at a beautiful stone that manifests in many different looks, and is relatively reasonably-priced.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, welcomed with our thanks. 

Really just a programming note:

Photo copyright Wings, 2007, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today's edition of Turquoise Tuesday will likely be late, perhaps very late. The truck blew a hose just as Wings was pulling in yesterday afternoon, and the mechanic is already here to take a look (and probably tow it a mile up the road to his place). We have an appointment at 1:00 that's likely going to take a while. And my brain is, of course, not exactly operating at full function these days.

It's also the seventh anniversary of the day we lost the little girl above. It's why I hate this day; while it's associated with San G in everyone else's minds, to us, it's inextricably intertwined with the our first loss of animal together. I've written about BearGirl before; she was a beautiful spirit, and we both still miss her every day. 

If I can get today's Turquoise Tuesday post up before we have to leave about noon, I will; if not, it'll be this evening.

Feasting.

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

All new at The NDN Silver Blog, today it's an exploration of feasting, mediated by Wings's photography. It all occurs in the context of the Pueblo's big annual public feast days, today and tomorrow.

Shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks.

Much to be done today; I probably will not put in an appearance (or if I do, it will be late).

Little Bits of Sunlight

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Now up at The NDN Silver Blog, it's little bits of sunlight.  Brass rings, but no "Brass Rings" here; these are weighted with symbolism of a different sort.

Shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks. Extraordinarily busy Sunday again, but I'll try to check in later.

Song for a Sunburst Sky

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Very late today. Among other issues, two chickens apparently lost to predators, in very odd and inexplicable circumstances.

So today's post at The NDN Silver Blog becomes tonight's post. There's very little sun left here at the moment just one tiny splotch of pink reflecting above the cloudbank in the western sky. But soon enough, the moment to which the post refers will be back with the blessing of a new day.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, welcomed with thanks from both of us.

Buffalo, In Spirit and Stone

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a feature combo of artist, medium, inspiration, and spirit being. There's a little in the post about its subject, which we've covered in earlier posts, but also information about the stone used, and of course, about Wings's cousin, the artist. 

Shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are very much needed and are welcomed with our thanks.

#TBT: Points and Blades

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

It's #Throwback Thursday at The NDN Silver Blog (well, for a few more hours yet), and today, it's points and blades. Specifically, it's handmade traditional knives. These are Wings's own work, and they're stunning, although only the one pictured here remains available; the others sold long ago.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, welcomed with our thanks.

#TBT to be late, and a request.

Today's #TBT post at The NDN Silver Blog is going to be late today — perhaps very late. My frustration with connectivity and other issues here is approaching levels that are dangerous for my blood pressure.

We're working desperately to get the gallery back up and running. Unfortunately, that takes money, which means sales, and sales are nonexistent right now. So please share the links to Wings's site with your networks. Much as I hate the retail phenomenon of holiday marketing even before October, for artists who create entirely by hand, the holidays are approaching faster than anyone realizes. 

Which raises another point: Folks who want to commission something for holiday gifts and orders need to start that process NOW. The creative process can take weeks, and the closer we get to the holidays, the greater the number of competing client demands on his attention. For Christmas orders, if you're going to want something made to order, as opposed to buying from existing inventory, the design discussions need to begin weeks, even months, in advance.

And a couple of folks with orders in the pipeline already need to e-mail me via the Web site Contact form with your shipping info.

Everyone else:  Please, share the links.  Not the link to this post, and not the Facebook link; the actual Web site links. Wings's main page is here; the main page of the blog section is here.

Thanks.

Apparently I need to clarify this . . .what? daily?

For the last time: NO.

No, I am not returning to DK or FB anytime in the foreseeable future. The damage done to us was incalculable, in more ways than I'm willing to discuss here, and I am still — STILL — dealing with the fallout on a minute-by-minute basis.

So, NO.  No, do not send me Kosmail; I can't get at it anyway, and haven't been able to for months.  No, don't message me via FB; as I've said over and over and over for the last three weeks, I'm not going to bother to open FB's pages.  That's what widgets are for, and I'm using them for the gallery, etc., and that. is. it. If you want to me reach, all'a'y'all know how. No, I'm not putting my e-mail up here for the trolls and stalkers to flood my inbox the same way they hacked our Web site. Every one of you who is actually a friend of ours has that site's URL, and that's what the Contact form and info are for.

I'm sorry to seem bad-tempered, but you know what?  I am.  I've been to hell this month, and I'm nowhere near back yet, and it doesn't help when I keep having to repeat myself because people think that I don't really mean what I say (or that they know better than I do what the subtext of my words actually is; hint: they don't). I have no choice right now but to spend my very limited time and resources focused on Wings's work, sales being what they are (which is to say, are not).

/rant

Pollination

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's just a short little feature . . . of a short little piece for our ever-shorter days.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, welcomed with our thanks.

A Silver Queen and a Blue Jay on a Lone Mountain

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's Turquoise Tuesday again, and it's an overview of one of the country's most valuable forms of the stone. Nothing currently in inventory that's made with it, but photos of a couple of incredible nuggets, and a lot of history. [And as noted at the very end of the post, that whole lack-of-current-inenotry thing could be changing very soon.]

Shares of the post itself and of Wings's main page are welcomed with our thanks.

"Greeting the World": An Image to Make Monday Better

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today, it's something all new at The NDN Silver Blog — and yet, of course, the lessons the image offers as old as time itself.

It's really an incredible shot, and he only got it because these delicate creatures trusted him enough to allow it.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, welcomed with our thanks.



I really don't know when I'll be back to full function. We're putting in long hours here, and the daily posts for his site are all I can squeeze in right now. 

A Walk Beneath the Clouds

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's another straightforward feature, but it gets there by a winding trail. It's one of Wings's smaller pieces, very simple, but both beautiful and beautifully symbolic.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, welcomed with our thanks. Please also share our Friday piece, a profile of Wings's niece, a brilliant Native potter. For those of you on Facebook, please also go here, to the Facebook Page of the Poeh Cultural Center and Museum, and like and share their post highlighting her profile.

I am still dealing with a severe autoimmune crash and post-concussion fallout, among other things. I won't be around socially for quite a while yet.

At Summer's End, the Way of the Sun

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Now up at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a short reflection on the way of the sun, and the role it plays in our seasons and our daily lives, by way of one of Wings's pieces.

Shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks.

Also, if you haven't yet seen yesterday's artist profile, please check it out: It's our latest artist, who is Wings's niece, our neighbor, and an accomplished Native potter. Please share the link to her profile widely; her work is brilliant and deserves the widest possible audience.

Come and Meet Our Latest Native Artist!

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's our Friday Feature, and it's something incredibly exciting. It's also something that is incredibly important to us personally: We're introducing you to a new artist — new to us carrying her work, that is. She's neither new at art nor new to us personally; she's Wings's niece, and she's an incredible talent and a  wonderful human being.

So come and meet Taos Pueblo potter Camille Bernal, look at some of her latest gorgeous work — and please, share it with everyone in your networks. She already gets quite a bit of local and regional exposure, but we'd like her to be known by our circle of friends and client base, and by all of their friends and family, as well. Please go to this link and share it, whether via the social-media buttons at the bottom or by copying and pasting the link. Shares of Wings's main page are welcomed, too.

Chi miigwech and ta'a from both of us.

#TBT: Spirit, Both In and Of the Stone

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.

It's Throwback Thursday again at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's old-school in two ways: spirit, and stone.

Shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks. Be sure to check in tomorrow, when we'll be profiling someone very special to us, along with some very special art.

Finding Buffalo

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

New at The NDN Silver Blog, it's chimera and ephemera, a little of dreams and visions and hope for salvation, something transitory and insubstantial for those to whom it doesn't belong, but very, very real to those to whom it does.

Shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, welcomed with our thanks.

Pilots and Paiutes and Aztecs

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

It's Turquoise Tuesday at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's another in Nevada's fabulous stones: Pilot Mountain turquoise.

I'm hellishly short on time today, with a thunderstorm imminent as I type this and horses to be brought in to safety, so I apologize for the relative dearth of imagery in today's post. The one piece shown (sold years ago now) should make it worth the visit; it's a truly amazing stone.

Shares of the post itself and of Wings's main page are welcomed with our thanks.

Hope.

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today's post is now up at The NDN Silver Blog, with one small caveat: The sales information for the featured image is not yet included; I'll update it accordingly later this evening. It launches a new Monday photographic feature series, since we concluded the last such series last week. 

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with thanks.

Harmony

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

All these years, and this is the only digital photo I could find of me with her.

Spock, the boarder horse, has been gone for several weeks now; she went to ostensible "training," was shown to be unsound (no surprise to us; a set of breeding issues that have been known and continue unchecked). She was slated to return at the end of the summer to board here, but is instead being sold because of that issue. We miss her, but at the same time, she was a handful — an absolute little troll. The day of her departure earlier this summer, the other five settled down immediately.

Today, though . . . today's much harder. Harmony has been with us since rescue, but she was technically a sort of co-ownership arrangement, although Wings held the papers. To her, we were hers, her humans; she owned us, body and soul, and she knew it. But circumstances change, and other parties often have other ideas and certainly other goals.  And Wings's interest has been bought out.

I've known for weeks that today was coming. It doesn't lessen it in the slightest. Harmony adopted me too many years ago to count; always spooky and shy, she gave me her trust, and I held it like the jewel that it was. When we lost Hunter, too soon after losing BearGirl and hard on the heels of losing Wings's father, we couldn't be there to hold her; we could ben connected to the vet, three hours away, only by phone. Harmony was the one who knew, and she came to the fence to watch in worry and despair. When it was done and Hunter was gone, I went inside the fence and wept. Harmony leaned her head into me, and quite literally held me up and kept me from collapsing on the dirt. That was the day she let me know that she had decided to bond to me completely. She was my girl, she was Miskwaki's girl, she was pure love.

So when she decided this morning that this business of getting into and out of the trailer was fund and all, but she was done now . . . she kept circling, looking at me as if to say, "You're not going to let this happen, right? I'm still here, right?"

And it broke my heart.

The horses are grieving; the dogs are grieving; we're grieving. I know that in many ways, it falls into that horrible category "for the best," but that's a utilitarian argument. Oh, she'll be well cared for, there's no doubt of that. She'll see Spock again, who she adopted as a surrogate daughter, at least unless and until Spock is sold. But she will not be with us; she will not be home.

And now there is a Harmony-sized hole in my heart bigger than my heart itself, bigger than me, and no amount of time will fill it back in.

After all these years, there are virtually no photos of me with her. The only digital one I could dig up today was the one above, and it doesn't show her well. I'm furious with myself for letting that happen.

We are down to four horses. Much more manageable, especially with winter coming.

My heart hurts.

Today's post at The NDN Silver Blog will be very late today. There will be no replies to comments, nor to e-mails other than orders and inquiries related to the gallery.

 

Night Guardians

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today's post at The NDN Silver Blog looks at other guardians of the people's dreams, one more structure and less spirit, the others tangible but completely untouchable.  

Shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, welcomed with thanks.

Gifts of the Spider Woman

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today's feature at The NDN Silver Blog is, as I've said elsewhere, a stunner.  Just silken webs; no venom. Lots of stories, though, and lots of photos of past work as well as the one piece currently in inventory (and believe me, it's a showpiece).

Shares of the post itself, as well as Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks. Spider Woman really does need to find her way home.

For those who want to know, no, no change elsewhere. It's a long road, but a familiar one, unfortunately.

Winter Buffalo

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's more on the season of the buffalo — this time, winter. The featured piece is a beautiful small painting, and very modestly priced, of buffalo trying to find their way home.

Shares of the post itself and of Wings's main page are welcomed with thanks from both of us.

#TBT: Family Stories

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

It may be late, but it's still Thursday, and it's still #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog. Today, the subject is family storytelling.

Shares of the post itself and of Wings's main page are welcomed with our thanks.

On a mostly-unrelated note: Yesterday was the one-month mark since my concussion. I'm still having quite a lot of difficulty, complicated severely by my autoimmune crash on the night of the 6th. [Actually, it had been coming for a long time; I had simply pushed myself up to that point, when reality took over.] I don't know when I'll be back in any kind of participatory way; body and mind are stretched to the limit and then some just by gallery-related work, which can't go undone for obvious reasons. For those who can bear with me, thank you; for those who can't, simply unfriend or unfollow as needed. I go through this anywhere from two to four times a year, and there's never an end date; pain and exhaustion simply have to run their course and do their next round of damage.

Shades of a Molten Sky

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today's feature at The NDN Silver Blog is a series of our spectacular sunsets — and one elegantly simple, very modestly-priced piece that captures their warmth and fire.

Take a look. There are some gorgeous sky shots, too, as well as images of a few other pieces.  Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks.

Number Eight

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Technically, it's not a number; it's a mine name. It's also the topic of today's Turquoise Tuesday post at The NDN Silver Blog.

No current inventory featured today; he doesn't have anything remaining with Number Eight turquoise in it, although he does have a few cabs left in stock that will eventually be turned into something new. There is, as always, though, a little history, a little mineralogy, a few other things.

Shares of both the post and the main page welcomed with thanks. Apologies for its relative lack of depth; I'm doing well to string two words together today.

Emergence

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today's post is finally up at The NDN Silver Blog, and it closes a series within a series (or two, or perhaps even three). What that means will become clear at the link.

Shares of the post itself and of Wings's main page are welcomed with our thanks.

On another topic:

Other than these posts and business-related contacts, I will not around for a while. I've been pushing it all summer long, and between that and the events of the last week and a half, I suffered a major autoimmune crash over the weekend. With it inevitably comes a severe bout of clinical depression, and mine is rooted in multiple sources and not receptive to treatment of any sort (and no "Have you tried" or "You should," please; I guarantee you've I've already tried it, ALL of it, and nothing works for me). I'm not fit for polite company, and not up to even the most basic conversation. If you know me, you know that this a recurring battle; it's simply something I have to deal with when it hits, and no amount of external pressure of any sort will change things or speed them along. I've dealt with this enough years decades of my life to know what to expect and what to do. So forgive me if comments and text messages and e-mails go unanswered. I'm doing what I have to do to recover and be functional again.

Taos Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today's post at The NDN Silver Blog features something unique to this area that depends on nothing human for its existence: the famed Taos light. It is, in its own way, a continuation of yesterday's topic, and a foreshadowing — ore perhaps a forelighting — of tomorrow's.

Social-media shares of the post itself and of Wings's main page are welcomed with our thanks. My apologies for not being available to engage today (and likely over the days to come). Despite the subject matter of these three days' worth of posts (long scheduled for this period and not amenable to change), recent events have left me in a place itself very much in need of some light.

Gifts

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today's feature at The NDN Silver Blog is very late, but no less beautiful for that. Half a dozen features, actually — the six bangle bracelets shown above, coupled with a short meditation on the the presence of gifts, both given and received, in our daily lives. The stones that accent the silver bands, of course, symbolize a few of those gifts.

As always, shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with thanks from both of us.

FF: Form From Stone

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.

Yesterday at The NDN Silver Blog, it was coaxing form from wood (and, yes, last night someone brought the unintended double entendre to my attention; never mind). Today, it's coaxing form from stone, and with any luck, there's no repeat of yesterday.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with thanks. Lots to do today (I've already been outside with the horses), so time for me to get really going.

#TBT: Form From Wood

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.

So it's Throwback Thursday again at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, we're looking at an older style of carving through the lens of a piece from Wings's private collection. It was cared by his cousin well over a decade ago, and it's time for it to find its real home. At this price, it's a steal, believe me.

As always shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks. 

Season of the Buffalo

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the Season of the Buffalo. Not literally; it's simply one of the meanings that the period of Indian Summer-into-Fall holds for me personally.

The post is a straightforward feature today, built around the piece you see in the photo above. It's beautiful, and it has the added quality of being very modestly priced.

Everything seems to be fine now, so take a look, see what you think, see what the season brings to mind for you. Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks. 

We'll be outside hauling, loading, and stacking bales.

Turquoise Tuesday: Believe It Or Not, Bunny Ears!

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

It's Turquoise Tuesday (well, for a few hours yet, anyway) at The NDN Silver Blog, and today we go back to Nevada. There we find, in addition to silver and the blue stones of the title, saints (and devils!) and bunny ears.

Yes.

Since we've been hacked by some thoroughly unscrupulous operators over the last two days, I'm not going to ask people to share the post or the main page, or even visit yet. I honestly believe that it is now safe; our Web guy has been working diligently on it, and I'm getting absolutely no warnings upon loading the site. But I understand if folks want to wait a few days.

Still working on it . . . .

Contrasts: Ingress/Egress

Photo copyright Wings, 2014;
all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the final entry in our three-day study in — and of — contrasts. Today, it features one of the photos entered in Wings's recent one-man show, and the texture and depth and interplay of light and shadow are incredible. It's one of my favorites.

As always, shares via the social-media buttons at the bottom of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our gratitude.