Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A wall sculpture by Gary Burke.

Desert Tortoise

This was my birthday present from Jerry.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

Peggy arranged for us to visit Randy Chitto in his studio while Jerry and I were in New Mexico last month. Randy showed us works in progress, pieces that broke while being fired and a few pieces that are ready to be sold. He's enjoying the business model he's using now that Packards has closed. He doesn't have to work in production mode. He can take his time and produce works that don't have to be made to keep the gallery stocked.

When he unwrapped one piece he was working on, both Jerry and I immediately knew that it was one we wanted. If it survived the firing and finishing, Randy said that Jerry and I could have the first opportunity to take it.

It survived and we took it.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A mermaid by Mexican artist Vico.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A buffalo and turtle by Molly Heizer.

The underside of the buffalo tells their stories.

The note that came with them tells more:

Respect the Earth

The Buffalo and the turtle teach us to respect the Earth and what she offers us or we may loose it. 

The Buffalo holds the power to bring cold weather, good health, good crops and a plentiful harvest. He teaches us to honor what we have. He teaches us to honor what we have or we may loose it. He shows us to let nature flow at her own pace. He is a symbol of prosperity and plenty. 

The Turtle teaches us to slow down and take time to appreciate the world. He shows us that we cannot walk away from what we do to the Earth just as the turtle cannot walk away from her shell. He is a symbol of strength, patience, endurance, stability and protection from war.

You might remember another turtle we have by Molly Heizer.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

Every time we're in Santa Fe, we visit Folk Arts of Poland. I've especially admired their wood sculptures. One year, I commented how I very much liked one of their Noah's Arks. The person behind the counter told me the man sitting by the window carving some wood was the artist. I don't speak Polish and the artist doesn't speak much English so we just smiled at each other. I left empty handed.

In subsequent visits we kept considering getting a Noah's Ark but kept putting it off.

Last year, we were admiring the various Arks on display and I somehow mentioned that we collect turtles. The artist, Tadeusz Kacalak, again was there and we were told that he does commissions. We had an interesting and fun time coming up with a commission. He doesn't speak English and the man who runs the store doesn't speak a lot of Polish. With the help of a Polish/English dictionary we came up with a plan.

We, of course, wanted turtles. Mr. Kacalak said he could put some in the waves beneath the Ark. And we needed to a have a Kitty (what would the world be without kitties being saved?). And, since Kitty likes bunnies, we wanted a rabbit. We decided we'd rather have more species in the limited space in the front of the ark so we didn't need to have everything on deck paired up. Even Mrs. Noah should be below deck. He'd put in Noah and whatever animals he could fit in.

We ordered it in August and he said it would be ready in March. Unfortunately, he had an operation that put him out of commission for a time so it took longer than expected. That didn't matter. I had been admiring them for years so a little delay just added to the excitement of getting it.

It was worth the wait!

The snakes were a delightful surprise!

Here's his signature (and snakes peeking over the side of the boat).

Isn't it great?

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A picture we picked up at the ArtWalk a couple of days ago.

Star Turtle
by
Doug Roy

Closer look

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

The people who run Africa and Beyond in La Jolla recently sent us an email telling us that they had come back from a trip to Africa with some new turtles and that they were letting us know before they were made available to the world. It's nice that gallery owners remember their clientele's tastes.

We got this raku turtle.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A ceramic sculpture by Molly Heizer.

His underside.

We had seen a turtle by Ms. Heizer in the Canyon Road Contemporary gallery a few trips to Santa Fe ago. When we were there in August we asked Nancy if they had any turtles of hers. They didn't but it turns out that Molly would be in the gallery later in the day. Perhaps we could see if she could make one for us. We went back and met with Molly. She told us she could make some turtles and send us pictures. No obligation.

A few weeks ago we got pictures of two turtles. We chose this one.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

Jerry's ink.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A stained glass turtle made by my niece Xian.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

Dishes by Emilia Castillo.

We got these from Packards going-out-of-business sale.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A little seed pot by D. Lewis-Garcia of Acoma Pueblo.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A miniature painting by C. Coyote. We got this from the artist at an Indian Market years ago. The image is about a inch and a half wide.

If anyone could find more about the artist, we'd be grateful. This is the information on the back of the picture.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A ScrapHound turtle by Sheri Fox made from salvaged steel.

Sir Phineas

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A plush turtle with an embroidered shell.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A ceramic bell by Todd Warner.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A Randy Chitto story teller.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A watercolor by Dawn Dark Mountain. We got this at Indian Market 2012.

Little Turtle & the Sun

The story of the painting:

It is said that when there was darkness in the world, it was Little Turtle who climbed into the sky and gathered the lightning into a great ball that became the sun and a smaller ball that became the moon and that is how light came into the world.

Our other pictures by Dawn Dark Mountain are here.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A pottery turtle by Ryan Roller.

Its underside.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesay

A copper turtle by Lynn Daniel.

We got it at Spanish Village in Balboa Park.