"If loving shoes is a crime, I'm looking at life WITHOUT parole! "Brian Atwood"

A PERSONAL WORD ABOUT KEWA PUEBLOAN AWARD WINNER "JOLENE BIRD":

It's pieces like this,that separate Jolene from other artists from the Kewa village and it's also pieces like this that take her individualistic artistic approach to a whole new level of design! Having worked closely with Jolene now for years, one thing I can personally say about her, is that there is nothing that she doesn't come in close contact with that she doesn't get her inspirations from, whether man made or God given. And it's what she sees with her eye that she then goes on to recreate & it’s these inspirations that she consistently tells her artisan son Charles to 'be inspired' by what he sees & then emulate it with a mosaic picture done in traditional stone and shell.

I believe what Jolene offers, is not just about being another Puebloan mosaic artist, doing it the same way as everyone else, but rather stepping out of her own boundaries that separates her from others.. Jolene has wow’d us and all the judges at Native American juried events where she has gone on to making a mosaic inlaid chess set, mosaic sunglasses, fully mosaic gourd pots, mosaic chairs, a mini sized mosaic inlaid Volkswagen Beetle car and even went as far as fully mosaic inlaying a Gibson guitar!!(And that's just SOME of what she's made!) And at present, she's even working on a mosaic 'painting' of a woman she came in contact with that impressed Jolene enough to ‘paint’ her in mosaic form! The word "impossible" is NOT in this artists vocabulary! Jolene's work is highly collectible & gives us a historical ancestral Puebloan past,but with a contemporary edginess !

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THE HIGH HEEL MOSAIC SHOE NECKLACE:

For the shoe addict fanatic that love to show off their love of fashion, this necklace is made with 5 high heel shoes that are precisely shaped which give the necklace it's very uniform presence. Using just about every stone known to Santo Domingo jewelry, each heel is made with pretty much the same materials, but are laid in a different pattern than the next. Each stone is cut and shaped by Jolene that are then carefully mosaic inlaid atop of black jet (Fossilized coal)

The heels are strung through 2 strands of 8 mm turquoise rondelle beads,as well as small black onyx beads that are hidden because of their size & can only be seen on the backside.(Look at last photo)

So far only 2 of these shoe theme necklaces were made, with the 1st one being owned by a a "Vogue" corporate who went crazy when she saw it! (That one was longer & different than this one!)

**To see all the other amazing pieces I have listed by Jolene, including her EXQUISITE mosaic statue that's titled "KATHERINE AT THE MET GALA", please go to the earring, necklace, bracelet categories .(Katherine can be found under “Women’s Jewelry” then in the drop down click on “Other-Concho Belts plus More”-