I carry around a small sketch book for rough sketching, capturing anything that catches my attention. I find that the attention to small details is magnified when drawing. This sketch I made in a notebook in 2017. I always liked it and thought it would make a great bolo tie, some day.
I was visiting my family at the Chumash pow-wow in Malibu. My mom, brother and nephew had a booth selling their jewelry. I was visiting and had the time to sit and watch the fancy dancers and make a few sketches.
As a kid, I grew up on the pow-wow trail as my parents would have a booth selling jewelry on make-shift plywood tables. Often, I would crawl under the table with a blanket, pillow, and a handful of toys, using the table cloth as a tent. I created my own little world beneath that table. It is always cathartic to hear the clinking of the women dancing in their jingle dresses, the soft pouncing of leathered-sole moccasins hitting the earth and the steady pulse of the drums. The sounds brings me back home.
This bolo tie was started and finished last week but took six years to materialize. I had started one last year, but quickly chucked that one in the scrap pile. I know I could sharpen the design and clean up the design, but I wanted the feeling of the original sketch. I might do a few renditions of this design to see what else might happen in the little world that exists at my workbench.
Material: Sterling Silver, Sierra Nevada Turquoise
Dimensions: Main bolo pendant is 3" x 5-1/2", Bolo tips are 3/8" wide. Leather bolo cord is 46" long and 3/8" wide.
Weight (in grams): 232.6
Hallmark/Signature: Erick Begay, Sterling
