Page 6 - A Beading Heart

CoLLeCtor’S noteS
Collecting is in my blood. From the earliest days as a young boy in New York City, I collected stuff: toy cars, model soldiers, whatever attracted my fancy at the time. Also, like so many youngsters living in a city, I spent time mesmerized by the black and white images of televised showdowns between cowboys and Indians. Little did I know then that those two pastimes would blend into my overwhelming passion, an obsession in fact, with the Native American culture.
Fast forward from childhood to adolescence when my father gave me a book on Native Americans, The Book of the American West. That book shattered previous stereotypes portrayed throughout television series and movies of the ’50s and ’60s. Enthralled by the diversity and richness of their culture, I happened upon another book that further cemented my passion. In Hanta Yo by Ruth Bebe Hill, the author describes a people living within an organized social structure, demonstrating loyalty and love for their families, guided by a strong moral code and a pervasive reverence for nature and the bounties of their environment.
My youthful collector’s affliction, which it truly was, spread to other representations of the past: Bohlin silver-studded saddles, Mexican and Spanish chaps and spurs, antique weapons from around the world, wood carvings, oil paintings and bronzes. My affliction took over a 9,000 square foot home.
As the Native Americans wisely knew, Mother Nature always has the last word. On October 22, 2007, a raging forest fire completely decimated the Lake Arrowhead home that enshrined my collection. Not one to look back, I narrowed my efforts strictly on Native American beadwork as I began rebuilding my collection. With the many pieces that were not in harm’s way that day in 2007 as a base, I grew the collection with a vengeance.
Beadwork has always attracted me for its obvious beauty — but it held more. It is a roadmap to the history of a people, its designs signifying the everyday pattern of tribal life. Beadwork, to me, is a photographic art form. Contemplating what it represents has given me hours of pleasure. I hope you are able to feel the passion and beauty of the objects in this book. If you are not personally a collector, try. If you are already an avid collector (of anything), there is no antidote. My condolences!
To all those who have helped me in my endeavor, thank you seems too shallow. You have been with me for decades: appraising, advising, agreeing, disagreeing, guiding, evaluating and just plain sharing in my joy for all of these years.
Thank you to those who helped me along my path of collecting and making this book possible:
Angela Swedberg for so skillfully writing the beginning chapters, teaching us about quill/beadwork, Steve DeFurio photographing my collection the way I see it, Jim Arndt for lending his creative talent, Steve Graffe and Billy Valenzuela. To all those to helped me in the “hunt”, but special thanks to: Henry (Chick) Monahan, Bruce and Ilene Johnson, Mary Schmidt and her dear late mother Barbara, Danny Neill, Supaya Gray Wolf, Danny Verrier, searcher extraordinaire, Brian and Melissa Lebel for their expertise and humor, Kris Lajeskie who brought the collection to life, James Nottage, who infused each page and chapter of this book with his erudite mind and fathomless knowledge. And I extend my boundless thank you to my dearest friends on earth, Joseph Sherwood and Linda Kohn Sherwood, who have always watched my back and provided so many auctions that fueled my bidding frenzy.
In my seventh decade on this earth, I have dispensed many “wise words” to my grandchildren. Here is another: collect something. There is some research out there implying that collectors add years to their lifespan. If that is true, I should be here for quite a while longer.
—Robert Sandroni
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