Darrell Cadman: Silver Ring

Darrell Cadman: The Cadman and Reeves brothers are celebrated for their outstanding silverwork, bringing traditional Navajo styles into the contemporary forefront by way of their excellent craftsmanship and fine detail.  

Darrell creates some of the scarcely-seen forms, such as boxes, a type of Navajo silver artistry which, in recent times, has become more difficult to find, especially executed in such a masterful way.

Darrell was born in 1969.  Silversmithing not only runs in his family, but the highest quality and classic work is found not only in the work Darrell creates, but that of his brothers, Donovan and Andy, as well as his half brothers -- Gary and Daniel "Sunshine" Reeves.  

Each of them learned from Gary and Sunshine’s brother, David Reeves, an artist now deceased, who passed on a tremendous legacy of outstanding Navajo silver and turquoise jewelry artistry.

Jeanette Dale: Onyx Ring

Artist's Biography: Jeanette Dale

Jeanette Dale is a contemporary Navajo silversmith working with a traditional style all her own. Jeanette's pieces are recognizable for their distinctive combination of silverwork and beautiful natural stones. She learned the art form from her mother and has been making jewelry since 1973.

In 1973, Jeanette Dale was working at Fairchild Electronics in their Shiprock, New Mexico plant, cutting out computer chips with a diamond saw. She was the fastest cutter at the plant with the best quality record, producing nearly four times the number of chips of her fellow workers. When the plant shut down that year, she lost her job and didn't know what to do. 

Her mother, Juanita Begay, had been a well-known silversmith for years, and she offered to teach Jeanette the craft. Jeanette found that the precision she had shown cutting computer chips helped to make her work stand out. 

"It just came naturally to me," says Dale. "Soldering was just like I was born to to it. I showed my first ring to a dealer and he hired me to make jewelry for him." She also fell in love with beautiful stones. 

"I like to work around the shape of the stone to bring out it's natural beauty. With unique one of a kind stones you can make unique one of a kind jewelry." Dale prefers the traditional Navajo style with heavy, deep stamping and high polishes. 

She also follows her first employer's advise on one other matter. "He used to tell me to leave some mark, a saw mark or something to show that the jewelry was handmade. So I always leave something."

About Onyx:

Onyx is said to drive away unwanted thoughts and bad temper. In folklore, Onyx is considered a stabilizing stone, especially during times of extreme stress because it prevents loss of energy from the body. It is used for initiating the modes of centering and alignment of the total person with the higher power. Onyx can be used to banish grief, to enhance self-control, to stimulate the power of wise decision-making, and to encourage happiness and good fortune. It is said to be grounding and can be used to deflect or absorb the negativity of others.

Happy Birthday: Two Harry H. Begay Sterling and Turquoise Cuffs

I have decided to throw myself whole hog into a new collecting passion -- Navajo jewelry created by contemporary artists. So, I bought a few pieces with some birthday money. Although this may seem like an expensive hobby, in truth it is no more expensive than my former original comic art habit -- which has mostly become too expensive for my continued participation. Slow, but steady collecting is always the key -- waiting for that good value to come your way.

Two of the new birthday presents are beautiful pieces created by Harry H. Begay. Here are their original lot descriptions and photos.

Harry H. Begay's bracelets are hand-wrought in the traditional style called "ingot work." Harry Begay melts his silver in a crucible and pours it into molds which he then works into desired shapes. Such work requires multiple annealings, which is the process of reheating silver to 1200 degrees to realign the crystalline structure of the silver molecules. Smithing in this fashion is a highly-developed skill and very time consuming, therefore Harry's work is valuable and rare. This awesome triangle wire bracelet by Harry Begay features a beautiful single cab of  Number Eight Turquoise from Nevada with an intricate chocolate brown matrix. The bracelet features deep traditional stamping and a sculpted edge.

Navajo artist Harry H. Begay made this fabulous cuff with his amazing style. He has used a gorgeous piece of Arizona’s legendary Kingman Turquoise. The stone is a stunning blue color and is full of fabulous water web matrix. Surrounding the stone you will find the handmade silver work that has made Harry Begay one of the most sought-after silversmiths in today’s market. He makes his jewelry in the old ways by hammering out his cuff for the perfect width and shape. It is then decorated with stamping, file work, and button-style drops. You don’t see this narrow design from Harry often, so if you collect his work, it is definitely something you will want in your collection.