beadwork leather feathers haida indigenous art raven

Raven Holding the Moon — beadwork on brain-tanned leather, with feathers, by Tamara Reily

We have no choice about who we are when we are born: our ancestry, the color of our skin and hair and eyes, who our parents are.

It’s what we do with what we have that we can be blamed for or praised for, if blame or praise are necessary. For many people, including many artists, there is a drive deep down that impels them to walk a certain path and reach for a specific goal, regardless of whether or not they are “supposed” to feel that way.

“Have you ever felt a calling that you just had to follow?” asks Tamara Reily, a “mountain woman at heart” who has been creating beadwork and leatherwork for more than 40 years. Some would say that, because the Dayton, WA, artist is Pawnee (an indigenous group of people native to the Oklahoma region), she does this because it is in her blood. Others would argue that because she is not full-blooded Pawnee, she should not pursue the path she does. Still others, a small but not vocal enough minority, would observe that it’s nobody’s business to dissect the inner workings of an individual human soul. Reily does what she does because, deep down, she feels a connection to the people of her past.

beadwork scabbard knife deer antler indigenous tamara reily

A deer antler skinning knife. The fully beaded scabbard is made from brain-tanned deer leather and deer horn, by Tamara Reily

“My family line follows many paths — Native American Pawnee, French, and Dutch. As a young adult I found out my grandfather was Pawnee but not a full-blood; that comes from my great grandma — she was a full-blood Pawnee.

“I always knew this, from way down deep inside me.”

Mountain Living and Beadwork

From the time she was a child, Reily has pursued a path of being outdoors, learning from nature, studying the ways of the Pawnee, growing toward and into the person she feels within her heart that she is meant to be. She raised her three children in the mountains of Montana in an area called the Yaak, where the family had no running water, electricity or phone. At the age of 40, she moved to Alaska to become a dog musher. While there, she was invited to be a drum leader, and traveled around with other musicians to powwows and gatherings. Wherever she has lived she has set up space for beadwork and leatherwork, focusing on both traditional techniques as well as fusions of design representing both old and new.

“My beadwork and leatherwork represent a proud people to me, whose culture should be honored. For example, the many types of leather bags I make have a different purpose in the everyday life of the Native people. There are gathering bags, medicine bags, pipe bags, tobacco bags. I try to make each as traditional as possible and do it with respect and honor.”

black horse spirit beadwork bag tamara reily

The black horse spirit, according to Reilly, symbolizes strength and passion that will carry through the most difficult times. Spirit Horse Beadwork Bag, hand-crafted by Tamara Reily.

Reily sells her work at powwows and craft festivals in Montana, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington. She noticed that in many of the places where she sells, she is one of the few offering beadwork, which she believes is a dying art.

“Beadwork is hard to make and very time consuming, and it takes a lot of patience. Each piece of work is time and history repeating itself, honoring my native culture.”

Rich History Based upon Ancient Wisdom

The various motifs she creates have individual stories, rich histories based upon ancient legend that has been passed down through generations. For example, her Mishibeshu Beadwork Pipe Bag pattern features the “underwater lynx” known to the ancient Ojibwe as one of the great powers of Lake Superior. A representation of water and waves rests near his feet. Beneath that is a “shield” with a portrait of two women, symbolic of strength and continuity. Seven feathers at the bottom represent Reily (whose gifted name is Painted Feather) and her six siblings.

mishipeshu pepe beadwork bag ojibewe tamara reily

Incorporating numerous motifs, the Mishipeshu Pipe Bag draws upon the legends of the ancient Ojibewe on Lake Superior. By Tamara Reily

She is not bound to one inflexible interpretation of an animal or a symbol, she adds, because the indigenous people of North America were not so bound:

“Consider the turtle, a sacred creature among Native American tribes. Each tribe has a cultural view of the turtle, slightly different. The deeper meaning, however, remains the same.

“To me the meaning signifies good health and long life. So when I gift or sell a turtle rattle I am also gifting good health and long life.

“Turtle also teaches us to walk our paths in life in peace. I always teach this in ceremonies: walk in peace.”

No End of Ideas

With a never ending list of things she likes to make, Reily foresees that she will be creating beadwork “forever.” And that is a path she makes a choice to walk. It is part of her belief system, one that defines the steps that she takes:

“Follow one path no matter where it leads you. This is your journey in life. You have been down it before, and you have a chance to find yourself.”

It’s the choices we make that shape who we are.

Tamara Reily is the featured Art Event at Wenaha Gallery from January 18, 2022 through February 14.

Contact the gallery, located at 219 East Main Street, Dayton, WA, by phone at 509.382.2124 or e-mail art@wenaha.com. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday, and by appointment. Visit the Wenaha Gallery website online at www.wenaha.com.

Ring Handled Vessel, pottery sculpture by artist Anne Bullock at Wenaha Gallery.

Woven baskets and clay pots — these humble vessels have been used by ordinary people throughout history. And although they have been and still are a major factor in the daily lives of many, humble vessels are frequently overlooked and discounted in the worlds of both academia and fine art.

Corn Box potter sculpture by Anne Bullock at Wenaha Gallery

It is the rare, sensitive eye that sees the value of the prosaic, and Anne Bullock, a Walla Walla mixed media artist who, until her death in 2014, celebrated the history and culture of the Plateau people, recognized and respected the expertise and creativity of Pacific Northwest, Native American artisans.

“Anne always worked from a place of deep spiritual meaning,” her husband, David Bullock, remembers. “She found meaningful inspiration in the way these skilled designers used materials at hand in environmentally sound ways to create beauty as well as function.”

Anne’s interest in indigenous baskets took her throughout the region, as she explored the exhibits of the Wanapum Heritage Center Museum, Maryhill Museum, The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, Sacajawea State Park, Tamastslikt Cultural Institute, The Northwest Museum of Art and Culture, the Fort Walla Walla Museum, and numerous other historical locations.

Blue Vase pottery sculpture by Anne Bullock at Wenaha Gallery

“Vessels are a metaphor for my life and work,” Anne said in her artist statement. “I’m impressed with how early Native American Indian artisans worked with indigenous ‘of the earth’ materials. The gifts of the earth were revered; only what was needed was taken.”

In the spirit of the people she admired and honored, Anne worked in multiple mediums, both two- and three-dimensional, primarily in pottery, but her skills, like her interests, extended a wide range.

“She worked with charcoal, colored pencil, pastel, acrylics, and mixed media assemblage,” David says. “She also augmented her art with work in bamboo, wood, stone, wool, and paper.”

Untitled pottery sculpture by Anne Bullock at Wenaha Gallery

A most outstanding piece, remembered by artist friend and curator of Anne’s work Colleen Sargen, is “Earth, Wheat, Fire,” consisting of 36 tiles which needed to be precisely placed at the former Willow Gallery in Walla Walla, WA, during Anne’s Interwoven Exhibition there in 2010.

“She impressed wheat, other flora objects to honor the earth, bark of trees lost in the Walla Walla wind storm of 2007, and specific items such as sand dollars carefully placed, to honor individuals dear to her who have passed on,” Sargen says.

Adding especial interest to the installation was that the tiles were still being created during the week that Sargen was installing the show. “Because the tiles were still smoldering in the fire pit, the fire needing to extinguish naturally, we waited, realizing it would be the last piece installed!” Sargen recalls. But the wait was worth it.

Plateau Series Relief on Panel by Anne Bullock at Wenaha Gallery

“It is a stunning work, and Anne’s wish was that it be placed in a health care facility.”

These wishes are completely in line with who Anne was, Sargen continues, describing her friend and colleague as “so very tender hearted, it seemed that she herself suffered for the pain of others and actively took steps in daily life to ease pain and bring peace.” One means by which Anne accomplished this was through the March of Peace events that she organized in 2008, involving community members in the creation of small, clay “pinch pots” that were placed in an outdoor art installation at the Walla Walla Foundry’s sculpture garden.

David explains, “Anne sought every opportunity to involve community in her art, in ways such as attaching prayers to her bamboo prayer walls, tying personal mementos to a community memory strand, and even using puzzle pieces from second-hand puzzles to make vessels.”

Throughout Anne Bullock’s life, and during the 38 years she worked and created in Walla Walla, community was a driving factor. Whether that community consisted of the town in which she was living, or the memories of the people who had lived in the area centuries beforehand, she devoted her energy, her skill, and her art to acknowledging and honoring the contributions of ordinary, every day people:

“I am compelled to tie, bind, glue, blend, melt, carve, coil, weave, overlap or somehow piece together media in any way materials allow or dictate,” Anne’s artist statement outlines her deep-set beliefs.

“Integrating materials through these processes gives voice to my themes of honoring the earth, its resources, and inhabitants.”

Anne Bullock’s collection of two- and three-dimensional work is the Art Event: Pacific Northwest feature at Wenaha Gallery from February 23, 2015 through March 21, 2015 at Wenaha Gallery’s historic Dayton, WA location, 219 East Main Street.

“Anne had a special connection with the Wenaha Gallery for many years, and I hope this showing of her work here can honor that connection and provide her community of friends the opportunity to remember and appreciate her creative endeavors.” — David Bullock

Contact the gallery by phone at 800.755.2124 or e-mail art@wenaha.com. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday through Saturday, and by appointment. Visit the Wenaha Gallery website online at www.wenaha.com.

Wenaha Gallery is your destination location for Greenwich Workshop Fine Art Prints, professional customized framing, and original fine art paintings and sculpture by notable Pacific Northwest artists. Books, gifts, note cards, jigsaw puzzles, and more are also available. Visit at 219 East Main, Dayton, WA.

This article was written by Carolyn Henderson.

Posts