Fashion
My first brush with fashion was in high school when my Bohemian grandmother taught me how do embroidery. Soon I was embroidering the Beatles and their Yellow Submarine on a white Levi shirt. A few years later in Santa Fe, I literally changed the face of beadwork forever when I beaded a bikini-clad Brooke Shields on the back of my motorcycle jacket. This was the birth of what I would term, “Photobeadalism”.
This was an example of my signature “ worlds collide” brand of contemporary art that combines my Native American and American melting pot heritage. This same innovative use of traditional techniques and materials was and is evident in everything I make.Robbie Robertson commissioned a beaded war shirt for a SNL appearance and Goldie Hawn ordered some beaded moccasins. I did a bracelet of Val Kilmer as Batman for Val Kilmer and Winona Ryder’s was given a Winona Ryder bracelet from the American Indian College Fund. I gave Michael Stipe a beaded bracelet in Stockholm at an after concert party. Later, I would work for fashion designer Robert Comstock beading a huge Indian Warrior on the back of a leather jacket. Elton John, John Travolta and Sylvester Stallone all purchased one of these $10,000 top-of-the-line jackets.