Begay’s jewelry carries his blessing, spirit

If you’ve lived in the area for some time, you’ll remember going to Old Town Artisans in Tucson and seeing a quiet Navajo, Arnold Begay, at his craft.

There, he worked behind glass to create the unique turquoise and silver pieces for which he is known throughout the world. He moved to a private studio in 1997. From there he creates custom jewelry and pieces to sell at the Green Valley Farmer’s Market.

Begay’s designs are elegant and timeless. His pieces are made up of a beautiful stone, thoughtfully crafted and silver, each piece carrying an original named design.

Begay’s life has been made up of a series of stories building him into the artist and the man he is today. He refers to this portion of his life as “Silent Courage.”

Becoming an artist was a step-by-step process; inspiration for this career came in pieces.

“I stumbled into a shop as a young child and watched a man making jewelry. I thought, ‘Someday I will do what he’s doing.’”

Later, while participating in Navajo ceremonies, he began to understand the respect people held for a great jeweler, Mike Mitchell, his mother’s great uncle.

And yet he says, “I’m pretty much self taught. When I started I had no idea of what would happen, where it would go... what I would be doing... what I would become. I was simply making money to get through college.

“As time went on, this thought crossed my mind — that this is how I can share my cultural heritage, my respect for my late parents — in my jewelry.”

“Then I came across a man who became a good friend of mine, Mr. Eddie Gallego. He believed in me,” says Begay with great admiration. Through him, Begay became a part of the Old Town Artisans. He says of that time, “Along the way, opportunity knocks. I saw the opportunity and I embraced it.”

His first step in creating a piece is touching the stone. In feeling the stone, he begins envisioning a design. Begay says of his work, “What you bring to it is your spirit, your thoughts, your love and your blessing.”

For this reason, Begay cuts and polishes each of his stones and fashions each aspect of the silver himself. Every piece of jewelry he makes must carry a part of himself, his own blessing. And that’s the unique ingredient of the jewelry you will treasure — a part of the artist himself.

IF YOU GO

Green Valley Farmer’s Market runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the Green Valley Village, Esperanza Boulevard and La Canada Drive.