For the past several years, we have been featuring the Navajo Folk Art of Delbert Buck.

The Navajo people wove wearing blankets for around 200 years. They have woven floor rugs for more than 100 years. Many of these pieces are currently displayed on walls as works of art, but the original intent was for them to be used on the floor.

Several years ago I was surprised to learn that baskets are one of the only art forms that can’t be made by a machine. Even the baskets you buy in a flower shop are made by someone, somewhere.

It’s a long way from San Francisco to the Navajo Nation, both in miles and culture.

I have found that when an artist does work that both resonates with the public and that the artist really likes, it usually sells. It’s a perfect combination. But sometimes, when an artist is very successful at doing a style for a while, they can experience a strong desire to do something completely different.

In a newsletter last week, I recommended an issue of Native American Art Magazine in which I wrote an article about the contemporary weaving path that a family from Burnham, New Mexico has taken.

The Kachina are considered to be spiritual beings. The members of the Kachina Societies dress themselves to resemble these beings. The clothing and mask designs have been handed down for centuries.

James King was a Navajo artist from Shiprock, New Mexico. He was obsessive about his painting and seldom took time away from it.

Mike Ryan has spent years, working with his partner and co-author, Phillip Chambless, studying the magic blue stone that has been the hallmark of Indian jewelry in the Southwest.

When I was growing up and learning the Indian Arts and Crafts business, there were three Hopi artists that I remember the best.

Florence Riggs is widely recognized as one of the premier weavers of Navajo pictorial scenes. She comes from a great weaving family. Louise Nez is her mother and Linda Nez is her sister. Both are exceptional weavers.

I learned something doing research for this newsletter. I don’t know how many times I heard my father say in different talks that Klagetoh Trading Post was owned by Don Lorenzo Hubbell, the man who owned the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado and more than a dozen other posts.