North African-born Eveli Sabatie had a long-time fascination with Native American culture and history. As a young woman, she left her home in Paris in 1968 to move to San Francisco, hoping to learn more. A chance encounter with a Hopi traditionalist led to an invitation to Arizona, where she apprenticed with a master Native American jewellery-maker. For her, this was the beginning of a new world. Art can never be fully divided from the artist’s voice, nor the natural world. When Eveli encountered red jasper while roaming the Arizona mountains, she knew she had to incorporate her local geology into her work. Yet raw materials are just one of many ways in which the world around Eveli shapes her art. This book is a direct and personal exploration of Eveli’s work, following her arc of growth, challenges and internal workings. Eveli’s jewellery is entirely created by her, from gathering material to fabricating the body of the piece, doing the lapidary work and finally adding stone settings and finishings. She works in a rustic, ancient environment, often choosing to use rudimentary and home-made tools over commercial techniques. This book explores her creative process through five sections: THE JOURNEY, a biographical overview of her time at the Hopi reservation in Northern Arizona, where she apprenticed under Charles Loloma; CLOUDS AND RAIN, exploring the influence of the Hopi and the desert on her work; BEING HOME, which talks in greater detail about Eveli’s relationship with the environment; BEING HUMAN, a philosophical study of humanity through jewellery; and BRANCHING OUT, which features Eveli’s other artworks, which are sought after by collectors from around the world. This is a profound reflection on the earth, through the medium of jewellery. AUTHOR: Eveli Sabatie was born in Algeria in 1940, and raised between Morocco and Paris. In 1968, she moved to San Francisco, where she would meet both the Hopi Nation and the legendary Native American jeweller Charles Loloma. Their four-year collaboration resulted in some of the most innovative works of Loloma’s career, and Loloma named Eveli of one of only two proteges. Eveli continued to produce exceptional and imaginative jewellery and art for a further 24 years. She is the recipient of the Silver at the New Mexico Crafts Biennial, 1974, and has had several solo exhibitions, at the Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico (2016-2017); Fenn Galleries, Santa Fe, New Mexico (1970s- 1990s); Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona (1982); The Hand and the Spirit, Scottsdale, Arizona (1980s); The Elements, New York, NY (1980s); Gallery 3, Phoenix, Arizona (1971). She has had her writing published in Loloma, Beauty is his Name by Martha Hopkins Struever (2005), The Creative Lapidary by Frank W. Long (1976), Turquoise, The Gem of the Century by Oscar Branson (1975), and many other articles and newspaper articles. Her masterpieces are sought after by collectors from around the world.
SELLING POINTS: . An intimate journey through the life, work and influences of jewellery artist Eveli, protege of Hopi artist Charles Loloma . Narrated by the artist, demonstrating her deep personal connection to nature . This highly artistic book gathers stories and poems as well as photographs of stunning Hopi and Moroccan-inspired mosaic jewellery . Foreword from Cheri Falkenstein-Doyle and introduction from Mark Bahti 503 colour, 9 b/w illustrations