Merry Christmas!


Well, it's upon us, another Christmas and a fresh New Year to look out upon.  Darlene and I have so much to be grateful for.  Her recent tests indicate she remains cancer free and her oncologist has released her until May.  Folks - no doctor appointments until MAY!  We won't know what to do with ourselves!  Of course, this is the best Christmas gift we could hope for!  



And in wrapping up the year here at Zunispirits.com, we're posting a grand finale:  A listing of very special consigned pieces by Jeff Tsalabutie and Gibbs Othole.  A longtime collector has turned his attention from Zuni fetishes and is concentrating on his puebloan pottery collection.  His loss is your gain!  There are only eight pieces but what a spectacular group they make. You can access the showing here.



This will be our last posting of the year.  But don't go away for too long because we have some beautiful things in store for you next year!  Darlene and I send you all our warmest wishes for a blessed, happy Christmas and healthy and peaceful New Year!

God bless and Merry Christmas,

Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010













Dave
david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits

More New Zuni Fetishes @ Zunispirits.com!

Hi all,

Just a brief note to let you know that new Zuni fetishes will be posted tonight (11.28) before 9 PM central time.  Carvings by Ricky Laathy, Julius Yuselew, Vivella Cheama, Vernon Lunasee & Prudencia Quam Lunasee, Lynn Quam, Lena Boone and more.   Lots of frogs .. in abalone, dolomite, black marble and other cool stones.  Hope you'll stop by and take a peek.

Thanks, as always for your kind interest.

Happy trails,

Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010














Dave
david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits

Post Thanksgiving Wishes!

I hope everybody had a warm, happy Thanksgiving.  Darlene and I have a lot to be thankful for and we shared our gratitude and our day with Darlene's mom, our kids and their families.  The weather was perfect, the turkey moist and the pies abundant.  I don't think we could have asked for more!



I'm really appreciative of the response to my recent postings to Zuni Spirits and will continue to add new items, a few at a time, between now and mid-December.  So, I hope you will continue to check the site regularly to see the latest additions.  I will ship right up until Friday, December 21 but I can't guarantee delivery by Christmas at that late date.  Remember free gift wrapping and direct shipping to your gift recipient is done at our pleasure with no extra charge.

We send our sincere wishes to all our friends on the east coast that were affected by Hurricane Sandy that your days have returned to some sense of normalcy and that the remainder of 2012 will be kind to you.


It's hard to believe another year is winding down.   We are thinking of our friends in Zuni who have been preparing for Shalako for months.  It is a time of prayer and blessings, hope and renewal, faith and gratitude.

Life is short, be kind to each other.

Best always,

Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010













Dave
david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits

New Zuni Fetishes - 10.19.12

Happy Friday and wishes for a great weekend!

I've just finished posting a selection of new carvings to Zunispirits.com.

We're showcasing two fabulous turquoise piece by Jeff Tsalabutie - "Spring Bears" and a natural Hubei turquoise mountain lion.  Additionally, there are carvings by Claudia Peina, Kenric Laiwakete, Emery Eraicho, Georgette Quam, Vernon Lunasee & Prudencia Quam Lunasee, Jayne Quam, Clissa Martin, Hubert Pincion and more!

Turquoise, pink shell, sodalite, dolomite, fossil marble, soapstone and antler .. bears, mountain lions and frogs.  Oh my.  We hope you'll take time out of your weekend to check out both the new items and the sale items which are listed at the top of the page.

This will be our last posting of October but we'll have at least two in November.  Thanks, as always, for your interest and happy hunting.

Best always,

Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010












Dave
david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits

Sale @ Zunispirits.com

Howdy!

In happy anticipation of the upcoming holidays I've reduced a selection of sixteen fetishes to sale prices.    There are some really great little carvings here and I hope you'll take advantage of the sale while checking off a few names on your "good" list for Santa!

Additionally, I'm working on a new posting of twelve new fetishes and should have that ready for publication within the week.

Thanks to all of you who have responded to our recent post card mailing.  And we appreciate the new "Likes" on our Zunispirits Facebook page.  While I am mastering most of Darlene's former chores, Facebook is still out of my comfort zone, so Darlene continues to be the ZS Facebook fairy.

I hope everyone is enjoying the change in seasons.  Darlene and I are enjoying the much cooler Texas temperatures and the addition of a few new colors in our "box of  64" outside our windows.

Thanks for your continued interest and support.  We, along with all the talented artisans of Zuni Pueblo, are grateful!


Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010













Dave
david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits

NEW POSTING * 7 PM Central * Tonight!

Tonight (9.20), at 7 PM central. we're adding another selection of beautiful Zuni fetishes to Zuni Spirits!



This, the last posting of September, offers selections by Claudia Peina, Emery Eriacho, Andres Quandelacy, Jayne Quam, Leland Boone, Ruben Najera and Gibbs Othole, among others.  There are buffalo, foxes, bears, mountain lions, eagles and rabbits to name a few.  Turquoise, angelite, calcite, travertine and lepidolite are some of the stones in this offering.  It's a nice show and we hope you'll tune in!



It's hard to believe that September is winding down but we're grateful, here in east Texas, for recent rain and cooler temperatures.  The leaves are starting to fall, the American Beauty Berries are starting to ripen and there's just that little bit of difference in the angle of the sun.   It makes Darlene and I think of fall days in the Zuni Mountains (where we got lost!) and chilly evenings in Zuni with the smell of pinyon smoke in the air. Good times in a beautiful place ..   

Thanks for your interest and we send you our best wishes!

Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010














Dave
david@zunispirits.com
mail@zunispirits.com
zunispirits@yahoo.com
Zuni Spirits

New Zuni Fetishes 8.29.12 @ Zunispirits.com


Keshi and Hello from Zuni Spirits!

I'm posting 17 new Zuni fetish carvings to the site on Wednesday, August 29th at noon, central time.  There are carvings from Herbert Him, Lena Boone, Clissa Martin, Claudia Peina, Faye Quandelacy, Stewart Quandelacy, Leland Boone and others.  There will even be a surprise addition; a little eye candy for you serious collectors.

The USPS has made our shipping a little more complicated with regional pricing.  We continue to seek out the most inexpensive, yet reliable, options for the transport of your precious carvings.  While we continue to believe that is via USPS, if prices continue to rise, we may utilize other options in the future.

Did you know that the best way to see the most current version of Zunispirits.com is to always enter via this link:  Zunispirits.com.   If you seek out listings via Google or some other search engine, the page you are directed to may, in fact, be years old and no longer actually on our server.  Recently a collector wrote saying she found a page published in 2008 .. and none of the links worked.  She wondered if we were still in business.  ALWAYS enter our site via our home page so you'll be sure to see the most up-to-date inventory selection.

A self-proclaimed "new" collector from overseas recently questioned the price of a carving on our site when she compared it with a carving by the same artist that she'd found on ebay.  While we applaud any of the carvers who represent themselves via ebay or their own websites, it should be fairly obvious that we can't compete with them, nor do we wish to!  Additionally, that particular artisan offers his ebay customers a lower starting price in hopes there will be some competition between bidders that will raise the ending price to a more realistic retail price.  It's a gamble he is willing to take.  

The collector, being uneducated, didn't take into account the size of the carving on ebay versus the larger carving on our site.  Additionally, she didn't understand that the carving on ebay was made from a "found" stone, while the carving on our site was made of a stone the artist had to purchase as raw material.  We continue to offer quality Zuni fetishes at fair prices.  To us, that means a fair price to our artisans .. and a fair price to you, the collector.  We've witnessed far too many carvers being short changed in Zuni and it just doesn't set well with us.

Sometimes a little knowledge is dangerous.  This novice collector also accused us of misrepresenting this artisan's work as his father's (we didn't), accused us of saying the carver was deceased (we didn't) and she accused us of removing the textual description from the page in an effort to disguise our deception (nope, we didn't).  In truth, the carver's father does carve, but he has a different name.  The artist has son with the same name, so that might have fueled her incorrect assumption.  And the reason the page didn't have a textual description is because when the carving was posted last year, Darlene was just too ill with cancer treatment  to do more than just the basic information.  Since that time, either she or I have resumed our wordy descriptions for all items on our site.  

Those of you who have been collectors and worked with us over the last dozen years know that we strive for excellence and integrity in all our actions.   Had this new collector asked us about the discrepancies she didn't understand, we would have happily addressed her concerns.  Instead, she was accusatory and rude.  Fortunately, a little criticism  from someone who has never dealt with us doesn't really hold much water.  And while we recognize there may be some traders who might utilize such deceptive practices .. they won't be in business long.  It's good to know who you are buying from AND to ask questions when you have any concerns about the authenticity of a gallery's inventory.

Enjoy the last days of summer!  Though we don't anticipate being impacted much by Hurricane Isaac, any delays in posting tomorrow will be due entirely to his unexpected visitation.

All best wishes,

Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010










Dave
david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits

First new posting of August!

Greetings from Texas where it is hot as hades! (But then, this is August and it is Texas, so that is kind of to be expected!)

 We're grateful for the beauty that keeps coming to us from west of the Rio Grande. The latest Zuni fetishes to tickle our fancy will be posted to the website tomorrow at high noon, Texas time.

 There are some real beauties in this collection. Carvings by Herbert Him, Lena Boone, Dan Quam and Priscilla Lasiloo to name a few. There's turquoise, jet, Mother of Pearl and tagua nut! Bears, mountain lions, turtles and badgers.

 We hope you'll stop whatever it is you're doing tomorrow and take a look at the latest new guys. I'm already working on the next posting! There are so many awesome carvings in house at present, I can't wait to share them with you!

 Darlene and I send you our best, as always! Thanks for your interest!

Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010








david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits

Hello my little lovelies ... NEW carvings @ Zunispirits.com

I hope you have enjoyed our recent postings of new Zuni fetishes. I have to say .. it feels really good to be back at work and focusing on something other than Darlene's next doctor appointment!

I've just added fifteen new fetishes to the site. And (maybe it's just me but) this is a good one! The variety of traditional carvings by favored artisans is pretty outstanding. Love the color and variety of stones in this publication as well.

So, I hope you'll take a minute to stop by and see the new guys. I'm particularly excited about the Stuart Quandelacy gold-lipped Mother of pearl maiden and the Stewart Quandelacy turquoise medicine bear.

Thanks as always for your interest and support. Remember that every carving you add to your collection perpetuates that carver's ability to continue supporting his family with his art. Every carving you add to your collection enables the symbolism and beauty of Zuni fetishes to go on. Traditions will endure despite the economy or the trendiness of collecting Zuni fetishes but Darlene and I enjoy knowing that we are just a tiny part in keeping this part of Zuni life in place. A special thank you to the people of Zuni who persevere and have such devotion to the culture and history of their people.

Wisiyu!


Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010










Dave
david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits

First New Posting of July!

Greetings from East Texas!

Lynn Quam Medicine Bear
Septarian nodule, inlaid on both sides!

Just a brief head's up to let you know we've added fifteen new and wonderful Zuni fetish carvings to Zunispirits.com.  This first posting of July has carvings by Stewart Quandelacy, Lynn Quam, Claudia Peina and Clissa Martin, just to name a few.  You'll find beautiful turquoise, Septarian nodule, jet and travertine among the stones.  Love snails?  We have one just for you!  Bears, fish, moles and other Zuni critters just waiting to join your collection.  Take a minute and have a look!

Thanks, as always for your interest!

Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010












Dave
david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits

Back In The Saddle Again ...

Wow.  Talk about a LIFE INTERRUPTION!  It's been over a year and a half since we've posted new Zuni fetishes to the site.  It sure feels good to be back!

While Darlene is still somewhat in the wings, I'm going to be running the show from now on.  In addition to my former photography and shipping chores, I'm adding all the writing, website design, accounting and EVERYTHING that Darlene used to do.  Wish me luck!

Darlene is enjoying not having multiple doctor appointments EVERY month and getting back into her own creative endeavors.  She's feeling nearly "normal" and is grateful for all the prayers and love shown to her since her diagnosis in October, 2010.  Breast cancer is now in her rear view mirror and getting farther and farther behind her.  We couldn't be happier about that!

I'm excited about the new Zuni fetishes we have in stock.  My first solo posting is now on site.  I hope you'll check it out.  There are lots of bears, lots of turquoise and some interesting pieces by Jayne Quam and Herb Halate.  We also have two carvings by talented young men whose lives ended far too soon, Jeff Tsalabutie and Julius Yuselew. Click here to see the new carvings we added today.

We continue to liquidate a large collection that was consigned to us as well as offer our chosen selections direct from Zuni Pueblo.  I'm going to shoot for at least two new postings a month, maybe three if things go well.  I want to thank you for all you years of support and I hope to hear from you soon.

Take care and happy hunting!

Dave during one of our rare Texas snow storms of 2010










Dave
david@zunispirits.com
Zuni Spirits