Navajo Custom Designs by Rebecca Begay

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Navajo artists are known for their one-of-a-kind jewelry designs. Among the best contemporary artists, is Rebecca Begay. She was born on the Navajo reservation and raised traditionally where ceremonial sand painting and weaving were part of the daily life. She has been an aspiring artist from an early age, and it was her husband, Darryl Dean Begay, who taught her tufa casting—a technique she still uses to bring her beautiful jewelry designs to life. By using tufa, she is able to create abstract and pictorial designs from her drawings. She then carves them on the material before casting every piece.

Tufa is soft, so it requires a great deal of precision to handle. It is challenging to create more than one cast from every carving. Hence, Rebecca and her husband would typically have a lot of stock on hand, as they painstakingly carve new tufa molds for almost every cast. She creates jewelry in Navajo custom designs along with her husband and has won awards from notable events like the Santa Fe Indian Market and SWAIA Fellowship. Her masterpieces feature subtle hints of color from materials like lapis lazuli, coral, turquoise, and mother of pearl to reflect Navajo customs. Some of her most prominent works feature solid 14K gold, too, that she crafts by hand and overlaid to create the perfect contrast against the hues of tufa stone and oxidized sterling silver.

Rebecca’s jewelry is considered highly collectible by fans of Native American jewelry and rare natural American turquoise. Every piece is considered valuable; thus, it is backed by a certificate of authenticity to assure collectors of her name, tribal affiliation, the materials she used in it, and the item’s retail value. Navajo custom designs by Rebecca Begay are typically delicate and feminine, with floral themes that easily draw attention to each piece. A perfect of example of that is the rare high-grade Apache blue turquoise tufa cast flora bracelet, which she carved in her signature style. The brightly finished flowers are emphasized with a deeply oxidized background, while bright cabochons offer a dazzling effect to the piece.  

About the Company:

Turquoise Direct is one of the most prominent sellers of authentic handmade turquoise jewelry, designed by award winning Native American artists, including Julian Lovato, Harry H. Begay, Arland Ben, Aaron Anderson, Al Joe, Thomas Jim, Tommy Jackson, Calvin Martinez and many others who place only the finest natural American turquoise in beautiful contemporary and traditional silver and gold jewelry.  With an amazing selection of collectible Native American jewelry from bracelets to earrings, necklaces, and rings to buckles and bolos by some of the most collectible and highly esteemed Native American artists in the Southwest, Turquoise Direct is the place to go for the finest online experience on the web.