What do you collect?

[gja1000]

Janet, the ivory is fossilized ivory - they don't kill the walruses for ivory and the mammoths are long gone. The ivory is found as the Alaskan ice cap melts.

My husband is part Indian so the kachinas "speak" to him. He feels a strong connection to them.

[DianaB]

Gayle, your collection of Fiesta is so pretty and colorful! Your husband made you a wonderful plate rack too. How nice!!! The Katchinas and ivory pieces are really interesting! I can see that you've taken great care in picking them out because they are so intricate and very beautiful!!! Thank you so much for sharing the pictures of your collections! That was very interesting to see.

[judy]

Gayle,

Wouldn't you know it - I'm thinking about what to collect now.

[gja1000]

Really, I didn't set out to collect anything - we started with a couple of stone polished pottery pieces on a trip to New Mexico and then it just grew from there!!! We really loved them and learned so much about the pottery. In New Mexico the Indian land (typically called a reservation) is called a Pueblo - and in New Mexico there are about 15 (or so) Pueblos. Each one is known for a different kind of pottery or art. For example, the San Ildefonso Pueblo is known black pottery, while the Santa Clara Pueblo is known for red pots. Santo Domingo Pueblo makes pottery, but they are known for their beautiful jewelry, as are the Zuni. You can go right into the Pueblos (most of them anyway) and if there is a potter, he/she will hang a sign outside the house where they live and you just go in and look at their art and buy directly from them.

Most Indian artists love to tell you all about their craft and my husband and I love to listen to them, so we spend lots of time just talking. Indians are known for preferring to sell their art to someone who wants to hear the story of the piece or understand its meaning. Almost everything about Indian art has meaning. I once sat with an Indian silversmith at an art show and if someone came up to his booth and said, "how much is that", the price would be very very very very high. But if someone came up and asked about the same piece, listened to the story, seemed interested in the piece, then the price was reasonable.

Of course, my husband's fascination with kachinas came from our travels to New Mexico. Actually though, the kachinas he collects are made my the Hopi Indians which are from Arizona!

I didn't set out to collect Fiestaware either. I always loved it so my mom gave me her old Fiesta dishes (just a few pieces - some had been stolen years ago) and then my aunt gave me hers (both from the 40's-50's). I really loved them so my aunt bought me some at an estate sale, then I just began to pick up a piece here and there. Voila! Here I am with a whole cupboard full.