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A few weeks ago the City of Santa Fe Arts and Parks department asked me to meet them by the monument on the plaza downtown. They wanted to know how long it would take to remove some of the plaques in the monument in the center of the plaza that have been a issue because of how they described native Indians as being savage. They were preparing for a protest that was going to happen the next day. This was about a week or less after a protest on a monument in Albuquerque of a person who was a brutal savage Spanish person who cut off the feet of Indians so they would not run away? That is just kind of sick that tax dollars paid for a monument of such a thug. The protest in Albuquerque got out of control, people were injured and one was even shot.
The city of Santa Fe wanted to look good and was considering having me cut the racist plaques out on the plaza monument and then put it back in so they could stage the mayor pulling it out. I told them I knew several native stone carvers that would be happy to help me. My first thought was that this could be a healing and then I thought it would probably get out of control. The city was in a time crunch and I told them it could take 4 to16 hrs. They decided this would be cutting it a little close and they decided to try and hire a reputable crane operator who did not want any part of it. They hired another crane operator who was only able to take off the top part. The reason I am telling this story is that artists and the public really need to start thinking about what we are putting out there in the first place. Shouldn’t a monument about dead people or a dead person go in the cemetery instead of the plaza in Santa Fe, or a hill in old town Albuquerque? I don’t think we have a shortage history books to tell our history. Yes, history is often brutal, but why make art into something that honors brutal people or events? How about leaving people out of art because when we get over ourselves, that is when we have the most possibility to be the beautiful beings that we are. Brett Chomer
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 The Hunter and The Chaser Merkaba The word is composed of three separate words. Mer, which means light Ka, means spirit and Ba, means body. Put together these three words connote the union of spirit with the body, surrounded by light. Making this shape after being drawn to its geometry, a friend asked if I would make one for him. After completing that one I made these two ogethert. Then another friend casually said oh, you making Merkaba’s now? I had no idea what I was making. The thought of this gives me tingles or waves of emotion.
So with this being said, I am grateful for the opportunity to make the Merkaba and if you have a special request, I am happy to oblige. "The Hunter and The Chaser” 8’ x 4’ x 4’ Bronze/Stainless Steel $10,000
After years of wanting to pan for gold in the Black Hills I finally got my chance. A friend and local of the area took me out for a brief afternoon in his early model Willy’s jeep. We found nothing, and if it wasn’t for his constant complaint - “this would be more fun with a bottle of whiskey", I would not be telling this story. We panned several places and the temperature dropped 40 degrees in a matter of minutes. I said lets go back and I will go get that bottle of whisky and meet him at his house. We had a tall drink and then asked if we could tour his wife's no kill shelter (basically a zoo for misfit animals of all kinds). The next thing I remember I was not sure if what I was looking at was a deer or a dog. As we got a little closer I just plain fell in love. Little did I know at the time I had just found a 65 lb. gold nugget. |
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