Anderson Benally is best known for his paintings of Indians in what he refers to as "natural settings, colored with a deeply historic overview." His art reflects his beliefs in the Native American spiritual experience. His impressionistic landscapes, a blend of realistic and surrealistic images, are filled with the mysticism of dreams, and include totems, bear brothers and shaman visions. He uses a sprinkling of snowy color on the textured and swirling landscapes. Most of his paintings include a circle, a depiction of the round shields of the hunters and the hunted. His use of shades of blue or earth tones, rawhide, leather and feathers reflect his concern with the environment and the products of Indian life.
Benally's most recent achievement is the illustration of the book She Who Watches, published by Binford & Mort Publishing in 1997. These paintings capture the spirit of the stories of Coyote and a woman chief, Tsagaglalal, based on the petroglyphs along the shore of the Columbia River near Dallesport, Washington.
Anderson Benally was born in 1954 in Crownpoint, New Mexico. He was raised in the Rough Rock, Arizona region of the Navajo Nation. He attended the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico and the Academy of Arts, San Francisco. He received a degree from Eastern Oregon State University. He also attended graduate school at Rutgers University, working toward a degree in anthropology.
Benally recognizes the paints of Black Bear Boisin and Tony Sandoval as having the heaviest influence on his artistic development.
Awards include The Collectors Award, Calgary, Canada. He is listed in Who's Who in American Art. 17th Edition. He has also been reviewed in New York Art Review, 1990, 4th Edition. His 1990 painting won the Inter-Tribal Ceremonial Poster award in Gallup, New Mexico.
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Navajo arrist William B. Franklin was born in Ganado, Arizona, on the Navajo reservation. He was born to the Todichtiinii clan on his mothers side and the Standing House clan, Kiyaa'aa nii, on his fathers side. A portion of Franklin's youth was spent with his paternal grandmothers, herding sheep and observing their skill at weaving and silver work. That exposure to art and work was a seed planted by his relatives.
My pallet consists of numerous bowls filled with acrylic paint. My panttings involve lines, forms splashes, color, my imagination and my toughts pertaining to our history, stories, spirit and the midnight realizations as they are envisioned. The techniques I use are multiple glazings and acrylic washes, drawing upon paint stains and strokes to create intermingling designs and impressionistic imagery that sometimes tells a story.
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Angel sculptures and angel jewelry by Kati are available at the Ice Cave TradingPost, or you may order directly from her website at angelsbykati.com.
MICHAEL KANTEENA
Contemporary & Pre-Columbian
Recreations in Clay
Maria Teresa Rotunno De Stoa
BEAD ARTISAN
Fine bead work, including personalized Medicine Bags similar to the one at left may be ordered from Teresa by writing her at:
Ancient Earth Echos Beadworks
Rancho Pinon De La Piedra Colorada
PO Box 354
Ramah NM 87321
