Wilson Begay
Navajo
Wilson and Carol Begay are traditional Navajo silversmiths. These talented silversmiths who have been creating traditional Navajo jewelry since 1969. They came from families known for their jewelry making and silverwork.
Wilson’s father, Luke, taught John Adair, author of “Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths” how to make sand cast jewelry. He worked for many years with Mike and Dean Kirk, at the famous Kirk Brothers Trading Company in Gallup, New Mexico.
Carol’s parents, Angela and Allen Chee were both silversmiths who worked for C.G. Wallace, the famous jewelry trader from Zuni, New Mexico.
The Begay’s began their career making tufa cast jewelry, a traditional type of Navajo jewelry that requires the artist to make carvings in tufa stone to make forms that shape molten silver. They first worked for Tobe Tupen, a well-known trader in Gallup.
Today they are independent artists whose work is widely sought after by collectors. Wilson does the casting and building the foundations of the jewelry, and Carol sets the stones and does the finishing work. They work together to design their jewelry.
