On the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Photograph by Vicki Lucas.

Dear Ornament Reader,

Our cover feature for this Autumn issue, Totems to Turquoise, gives our readers a taste of the exquisite artforms of both the Southwest and Northwest of Native Americans. While the remaining articles portray artists—Roxanna Ahlborn, Joan Babcock, Lisa Hall, Judy Kuskin, Kate Fowle Meleney, Deborah Hird Newell, Gary Wilson, E. Douglas Wunder—of other parts of the United States, we anticipate your finding them of equal interest and stimulation.

It is now thirty years since we began our shared journey to document personal adornment, an aspect of our culture and ourselves that is so endlessly fascinating and revealing. We age physically but our minds continue to thirst for discovery and synthesis, as we feel challenged by the enormity of what there is still to chronicle in our beautiful but troubled world. To celebrate Carolyn’s sixtieth birthday in August, we took a classic roadtrip to the Southwest, with our son Patrick, and dear friends Vicki and Valentine Lucas. Almost a ritual for most American families in the past, driving now seems such a luxury and a gift, given our chronic lack of time. Traveling in two cars to preserve sanity (nineteen-year-old Valentine and Patrick in one; Vicki and the two of us in the other: both vehicles connected by our cell phones), we drove to some of the most alluring, majestic and evocative areas of the Southwest. It was a personally sensitive and empathic time as we affectionately related to the land, its people and each other. Our travels took us to the Petrified Forest National Park and The Painted Desert, the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, Canyon de Chelly, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Santa Fe and environs, the Zuni Pueblo and Grand Canyon. Almost fifteen years ago with Patrick and his grandmother Kathryn, we had driven to Mesa Verde and other ancient sites in the Four Corners states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. We were deeply touched by our encounters. In these areas, the force of the land and its long vanished peoples, as well as the present inhabitants, brought so sharply into focus the wonders of the Southwest.

Our reaction to these Southwest experiences, perhaps prodded by time’s arrow, helped us decide to add an issue to each calender year, marking an advance in our increased coverage on personal adornment. Despite our small staff and technological changes in publishing that take more of our time, we are already gathering material for a special Southwest issue, to include both the prehistoric and contemporary ornaments of this area. The mix of the past and the vital living craftspeople of the Southwest, both Native and non-Native Americans, will be an engaging, thoughtful exploration for the mind and an inspirational feast for the senses. It may not be our first special issue but we are looking forward to this challenge and welcome your embrace of this venture on our part.