For more than half a decade, Palace Jewelers at Manitou Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has hosted its annual jewelry trunk show, Bubbles and Bling, in February. This year’s edition, taking place February 4 through 28, will focus on the theme “Green Renewal,” which is dedicated to the color green and is associated with nature, spring and rebirth.
Tsali Hall (Navajo), director of Palace Jewelers, says, “The show will feature a lot of natural stones—turquoise, emeralds, tsavorite, jade. Any of those green tones of color are really coming back into fashion now and we wanted to focus on creating something that gives you a reminder of Mother Earth and nature, which are all of the things you tend to forget about.”
Wes Willie (Navajo), 14k yellow gold and sterling silver ring with Ethiopian opal
There will be a mix of contemporary Native American pieces that have been created specifically for the exhibition. “We just got in a new line we’ve been working on for several months—it’s the combination of gold, rose gold, white gold with diamonds and turquoise,” Hall shares, “The focus of the show will be on diamonds and turquoise and also the greens. It’ll be very interesting, and all one-of-a-kind where the same settings you’d see for stones such as diamonds, rubies and sapphires have different types of rare turquoise in them.”
Jennifer Curtis (Navajo), 14k yellow gold and sterling silver stamped bracelet with Ethiopian opal
Albert Lee (Navajo), 14k yellow gold and sterling silver bracelet with Pilot Mountain turquoise
The gallery features artwork from its slate of artists including Native American jewelers Albert Lee, Wes Willie, Jennifer Curtis, Arland Ben, Curtis Pete, Kenneth Johnson and Dee Nez. There also will be historic Native American pieces and works by non-Native American artists that the gallery represents. The annual show can offer a fun challenge for the artists, as they create new pieces around the theme.
“We partner with a lot of Native American and non-Native American artists and are giving them materials they normally wouldn’t have access to. It’s high-end turquoise stones, diamonds and high-grade gold—18k, 22k, 24k,” Hall explains. “We then just give them the [concept for the show] and let them run with it. It’s fun for them, and we get surprised because we don’t know what’s coming since they’re working with materials they otherwise wouldn’t normally use.”
Curtis Pete (Hopi/Navajo), sterling silver ring with varacite
This can come in materials that are not traditionally used in Native American artwork, such as Ethiopian opal, or in materials that are not easily accessible such as the coveted Lander Blue turquoise. Hall adds, “It’s an important partnership and important thing we do. It also helps the artist because collectors can see that they can work with high-end materials and develop a better name for themselves because they’re associated with, for instance Lander Blue, 18k gold and diamonds.”
Bubbles and Bling will open February 4 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. —
Palace Jewelers at Manitou Galleries
February 4-28, 2022
123 W. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 984-9859, www.palacejewelers.biz
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