Toh-Atin Gallery has been working with Jimmy Poyer for over thirty years. Before that, he was the leader of the Jimmy Poyer Band and traveled all over the country playing country music.

Back in December, we featured a Navajo artist named Fritson Toledo who was making some incredible jewelry that looked like it could have come out of the early 1900s.

That is not easy to do.

When Jimmy Poyer traveled the country with his country-rock band, he was often on the road. But he got bored between his music gigs.

Coral became a popular material for Native artists to work with hundreds of years ago when European Traders began to bring it to the Southwest as a trade item. Early on, the small pieces of coral were drilled and strung on necklaces made of drilled shell beads and, usually, pieces of turquoise.

How about that? According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, turquoise is having a jewelry resurgence! I did not realize it had gone out of style, but I guess that’s from living in the Desert Southwest!

Native American artists made the original Southwestern Native Earrings with turquoise and shell beads that were often two or three inches long or more. The beads were strung on a cotton string put through a hole in the ear lobe. Both men and women wore these earrings, which are very similar to the works of current Santo Domingo artist Ray Lovato, except they hang by silver wires!

Alex Sanchez is one of those artists who bridges traditional and contemporary in his jewelry. His work is heavy, and his stamp work is precise. He only uses top-quality stones. That would be enough for Sanchez to stand out among his contemporaries, but he takes the work a step further.