Having grown up in his native Santo Domingo Pueblo, “Ca’Win” Jimmy F. Calabaza was brought up to love the land, his culture and the beauty of the art around him. Without realizing it, he was learning the techniques of jewelry, pottery, bow-and-arrow making along with other art forms by helping his parents and grandparents.
Necklace with double-strand turquoise sphere and silver beads
Before becoming a prominent artist, Calabaza explored a variety of industries, including jobs related to the automotive field, sheet metal fabrication, land surveying and even as a Hot Shot firefighter. Later, after meeting his wife, Olivia, he began dabbling in jewelry. He would make traditional heishi and nugget necklaces and then go to the Navajo Nation to sell and trade with the Navajos. After a plant he was working at closed, Calabaza’s mother, Celestina, gave him a pound of rough turquoise and said, “God bless you to make beautiful jewelry.” This was a blessing in disguise, as this was what would have begun his journey into the art world.
Night and Day, necklace
Calabaza still sold his traditional heishi and turquoise necklaces, but he also made jaw-claws to hang from them. He would reinvest in rough materials until he was able to make enough money to branch out into making other jewelry besides the traditional necklaces. He later started selling his work in Taos, New Mexico.
Turquoise heart necklace
Today he credits many people in his life for helping him succeed as a jeweler, including his father, Lorenzo. “He took me into his workshop and told him, ‘Everything I have in here is yours. I pray God’s blessing on you to make beautiful silverwork. That’s all I can do for you, my son.’ To this day I still use my father’s worktable and tools,” Calabaza says.
Today, Calabaza does everything from rough material to the finished product. His prayers are that his collectors are blessed physically with good health, financially, emotionally and spiritually as they in turn have blessed him.
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