Still with us . . .

Photo copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.

for the moment. We'll see what tonight (and, we hope, tomorrow) bring.

I can't put into words what this image does to my heart right now.

Copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.

NDN Silver: You saw it here first . . . .

Photo Copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Remember when I said that there's something big coming up?

Well, these are going to be a part of it. [So what that means, of course, is that these are not on the market yet; this is strictly eye candy for now.] But I thought the folks who like to follow Wings's art might like to see some of what he's been working on lately.

Below: the reverse side of the pendant shown above:

Photo Copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

And a larger entry in the same series, this time with onyx:

Photo Copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

I should add that that onyx cab, seen in real life, is positively liquid. It took him a dozen or so shots to get one where the stone didn't show a reflection of him taking the photo. You can lose yourself in that stone.

And the reverse:

Photo Copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

These are all entries in one of Wings's signature series: The Mona Lisa on the Rio Grande. No, nothing to do with the Lucinda Williams song of similar name; this series predates the song. They are tributes to the Corn Maidens, female spirit beings of the Pueblo peoples and an integral part of their traditions. The cabochon stands in for the Maiden's face; the surrounding setting is her tablita, a heavy, hand-carved ceremonial headdress.

When actually placed on the market, each of these will come hung on a strand, whether sterling silver chain or beads. They will likely run somewhere in the $700-$1,000 range.

Watch this space for more updates . . . .



Copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.

So, you know you've had too much coffee . . .

when your earworm is a mash-up of honky-tonkin' and cookin' and seein' the light and big dogs movin' in.

Back to doing twenty things at once, none of them well.

Bribery

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Ponies are always good for that.

What am I saying? Good? Hell, they're masters at it. Ice is no exception.

So as I said on Facebook, here's the deal:

In a couple of weeks, I'll have something VERY exciting to announce on the professional front for Wings. Until then, I can't provide details, but it's a big undertaking. 

Unfortunately, it's also necessarily an expensive one. And we're in the middle of the winter ceremonial season; the Pueblo remains closed for the entire month of April, so there is no tourist trade. With this deadline looming, I'm at the point of trying to squeeze blood from a stone. (It's a lot of blood. It's a very small stone.) 

So if you know anyone currently in the market for gorgeous authentic Native art, please send 'em our way. And if you know anyone who might be interested in helping a really talented Native artist (yes, that would be Wings) pull off something wonderful (yes, I'll write all about it when it happens), please share the donation link at the upper right.

Don't make Ice give you side-eye.




Copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.

Flight

"Hummingbird Wings"
Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

He's dreaming.

He meets a man, a pilot, who says, "I can teach you how to fly a plane."

And the pilot does.

He's in the cockpit, the pilot next to him, and he lands the small plane in the Pueblo's plaza. 

He taxis to the North Side, to Hlauuma, and stops near where his old gallery used to be.

He disembarks, shielding his eyes against the morning light as he gazes at the perfect turquoise of the western sky. He sees his late brother, Roy, standing there.

"I didn't know you knew how to fly," Roy says in surprise.

He smiles, both at seeing his beloved brother again and at what he's about to show him.

"I do now," he says. "Watch."

And he turns back toward the cockpit.

And as he gathers himself, he looks down to find that the plane has disappeared. He doesn't need it anymore. He has grown his own wings, and he's about to take flight.

He awakens.




Copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.

#NotYourRacistJoke: Now What?

Image credit Suey Park and Colleagues of the
#NotYourAsianSidekick social media campaign

So, I thought I was done with the whole Colbert Clusterfuck.

Apparently not.

A good friend sent me an update a little while ago on Colbert's in-character response. After apparently defending his intent (which is irrelevant to the fact of whether the sketch was racist, which it most certainly was), he reportedly reverts entirely to character. Paraphrasing, here's the essence:

"I don't see race, but I know I'm white, because I just said six times that I'm not racist."

I admit it: That was funny.

But, as with earlier exchanges with friends over this whole clusterfuck, it prompted me to think: Now what?

In other words, how does he go about fixing it?

Well, as usual, I have some ideas (I know you're all just shocked by that).

Very Old Things

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Do you know what this is?

No? How about from this angle?

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Still no idea? Try this one:

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Give up?

It's a sherd. From a very old micaceous clay footed pot. The sort of small pot designed to stand in a fire, letting the contents heat from underneath without setting the bottom of the pot directly on the flames. The pot probably had handles, and may have had a lid.

It's also, at a minimum, several hundred years old, and perhaps much, much more.

Wings found it yesterday, outside the west wall of the horses' stalls.

Every now and then, the earth here throws ancient sherds up to the surface for us to find. Sometimes they're traditional Taos Pueblo-style micaceous clay, like this one; sometimes they're the old black-on-white style.

Always, though, they're a reminder that he is inextricably a part of this land — this land where his ancestors, in a direct and unbroken line, have lived and worked and tilled this earth since time immemorial.

Absent a pot to go with it, a 2" sherd doesn't have much value on the collectors' market.

As an essential piece of one's identity, a 2" sherd has value beyond any price.



Copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.