Native American Navajo Folk Art Bird by Famed Folk Artist Mamie Deschillie (1910-2010), measures 6'' x 9'', embellished with sequins, FYI: ''Deschillie was an accidental artist, said her daughter, Jane Jones. Deschillie began crafting figures from cardboard and mud after her husband of 39 years, Chee Ford Deschillie, died in 1979, when she was 55. Born July 27, 1910, in Chaco, Deschillie attended boarding school through the third grade. She married at age 16 and settled in Burnham, where she wove rugs, herded sheep and raised five children. Her career as a folk artist began in the 1980s when a pawn shop owner noticed her frequent transactions and collection of old turquoise jewelry and invited her to bring in some mud figures. Deschillie also painted, made collages and crafted cardboard cutout figures and adorned them with traditional attire and jewelry. The figures have captured the attention and imagination of art and history aficionados far and wide, Jones said. Deschillie made the figures from cardboard she saved from the Dumpster and adorned with recycled materials or those given to her at art shows. Figures ranged from traditional Navajo people to cowboys riding roosters to circus animals she saw only in books.''

pr-owned with normal wear for age, unless stated otherwise