“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.”— Georgia O’Keeffe

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Master mosaic Zuni artist Quintin Quam Sr. is from the Zuni Pueblo, but Albuquerque is fortunate to have Quintin call the city his home. A previous painter, Quintin traded out the tubes of color, brushes & canvas, to now working with our earth's naturally produced colors for his subjects... He continues to paint, but these days it's done in a stone/shell/metal art form. Quintin's picturesque pieces are made where he cuts each one of these tiny, tiny colorful stones (or shell) by hand & then intricately laying them 'flush' into the sterling that actually look like a painted picture! All the feather detailing & everything else to create a more ‘realistic image’, is further created by the hands of Quintin.

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A WORD:

This beyond exquisite set was made for an ad I am running that will be in a nationally distributed & well heard of Santa Fe'an magazine.. And when the thought of who I would want to hire out to help me showcase the quality of jewelry that can only be found in my Santa Fe store, there was only one artist I had in mind to do something so "spectacular" & that is the work of the extremely talented & gifted Zuni artist-Quintin Quam Sr.

When I asked Quintin to make such a piece & told him exactly what I was looking for,he was as excited to do it,as I was to have him on board! I told him I wanted this to be one of the best piece's he's ever made & that I wanted even himself to be excited over his own work, which at the time he finished,he ended up even shocking himself, since he pushed his own boundaries & went beyond his 'normal' ways of doing things by using techniques you'll rarely ever see him do!

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THE NECKLACE:

Literally a "Museum Worthy" work of art, this is made where Quintin went above & beyond in design & technique! It's made with a total of 9 oval shaped domed panels & has 8 triangular shaped spacers, which instead of the sterling being left bare, each have a mosaic inlaid Hummingbird head in the center! Each panel is uniquely different for the fact that each have a Hummingbird that is colored 9 different ways!

While each Hummingbird is designed differently, what is the same from one panel to the next, is if you look above each Hummingbird, you'll see a tri-colored pattern of Lapis-Angel Skin Pink Coral & Chilean Phosphosiderite (lavender color) at the top & then below that is a 4 colored banner of tiny triangular cuts of Lapis-Sleeping Beauty Turquoise-Italian Red Coral & Spiny Oyster. At the bottom of the oval also has the same pattern on all 9 that's made with various cuts of Lapis-Sleeping Beauty Turquoise-Italian Red Coral.

Just by zooming in, you will see how he cut each & every shaped stone & shell to intricately form the body & instead of doing 'straight' lines to create the birds,he cut these as if he was painting a picture!! For example, zoom in on photos 13,14,15,16,17 ! Or check out the earrings where you see all the curved lines in the body & wings of the hummingbird! ! This is cut AND shaped BY HAND! Another example that deserves appreciation is by checking out the dimensional shadows he gave the butterflies in photos 13,14,15!

This ISN'T your "average-everyday," seen it once, seen it a million times" type of set! It is a piece that will get you excited every time you look at it! And no doubt you will always be asking yourself "How in the heck did he cut all this"???!! You will want to own & wear anything & everything Quintin makes once you own something as sweet as this!!

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THE EARRINGS:

Made with colors that can make any artist/painter's mouth drool, these are so magnificently colored to perfection, where Quintin used the most vivid colors & then placed them side by side that allow each color to come to life! These are BEYOND beautiful!! They are very wearable in weight so they are not heavy enough to tear the ear..(To decide, see weights below )

I do want to mention this is "SOLD AS A SET" but I can get another pair of earrings made so they can be sold separately! It would take about 2 or more weeks to be finished. Just let me know!

**The price is dictated based on the numerous hours/days spent cutting & shaping all of the tiny materials, rather than the amount of materials, weight of the metal-**This is "Hand Made Art" & cannot be made in a matter of a couple of hours!