ZUNI AND IT'S BEAUTY "If she was a cowboy, she'd be the Queen." sit next to her mom, Andrea Lonjose and watch beautiful jewelry being created with silverwork and precise inlay. An-
By Kenneth Maxymowich
That’s what I think about Tamara, even though her musical tastes are more classic rock, old country and 90s R&B than new country. Ok, she can take a bit of this new country but she’s “old school”! Tamara Pinto grew up in Zuni, New Mexico at a time when Native American art was rapidly gaining popularity. Starting her education, she attended Santa Fe Indian School until her junior year and then transferred to Gallup where she graduated. Grad behind her, she moved to Tucson Arizona for 8 years where she sought further education before returning home to begin her career in silversmithing. As a young girl, she would
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drea is a legend in creating inlay pieces of art and her award-winning art adorns
multiple books and magazines. As Tamara grew older, she would August 2022
help by washing her mother’s jewelry pieces. Tamara credits her amazing mother and also her Wowo (Grandmother) Shirley Benn as her closest mentors. She tells me how blessed she is to have these beautiful ladies as her teachers still today. Growing up, Tamara was intrigued and amazed by the matriarchs of her family and the unbelievably beautiful jewelry
they were creating. She remembers her mom sitting her down and patiently teaching her step by step. “At times” she tells me “I would get so frustrated I’d want to quit but my mom
taught me to have patience.” Determined she sat there and patiently took it all in. “It was a process” she says.
In 2010, Tamara moved back to Zuni from Tucson expecting her first child. At this time, she didn’t know what the future had in store with her being a single parent. Determined to support herself and her daughter, Tamara decided to become a silversmith with the help of her family. This profession gave her the flexibility to work from home and raise her daughter. Having her Mom and Wowo by her side with guidance, Tamara was always learning something new “whether it was new designs, new techniques to create different style pieces or trying new stones.” Tamara considers her style of work as “multi-color etched inlay”. She uses a wide variety of natural stone and shell which include turquoise, coral, mother of pearl, malachite, black jet amongst others. Tamara tells me she just loves butterflies. So much so that she has a couple tattoos of butterflies. She remembers not knowing what she would create when she first started making jewelry. Her excited words came out as “ I drew out a pattern of a butterfly and that was my first piece...I just love how I’m able to use all of the colorful stones. From my first pieces I came out with several different patterns. I’ve also made hummingbirds, owls, lizards, flowers, but mostly butterflies.” When I first started collecting strictly Zuni art, I fell in love with Tamara Pinto’s butterflies. I kept seeing her multi-colored butterflies of different styles
