The sweet, organic tone of the Native American-style flute suggests a deep longing for something or someone distant, while the warm wood grain with leather and stone accents invite investigation in the here and now.

Kyle Smith of Oldest House Indian Shop makes it his mission to find the best sounding and best looking flutes to feature at the shop.  A professional flute player with an album of Native American flute and guitar duets to his credit, Kyle helps the experienced and the novice find their ideal flute, offering concert-quality to beginner flutes.

“We don’t choose the flute, the flute chooses us,” Kyle says.  “I spend a lot of time with our customers, not just selling them a flute, but staying with it.  I want them to enjoy it; for it to change their lives like it has for many of us.”

The flute first called to him in college while he was working in his father’s Native American and Western collectibles store.  He picked up the flute on a lark, but fell in love with it, playing up to six hours a day as he learned the intricacies of the instrument.

“A flute maker came in and told me I needed to record an album,” he says.  In 2009 he traveled to Phoenix to record Echoing Dream, Waking Visions.  He has sold 2000 copies if the CD in Santa Fe and National Parks throughout the West, and recently recorded a second album.

While following his own musical aspirations, Kyle also has been able to place the flute into the hands of many people.  From celebrities like Sammuel L. Jackson and Harry Connick, Jr. to a 98 year-old woman shopping for jewelry who saw the flute and said, “I think I can play that right now.”  And so she did.  Kyle also introducecd the flute to a stroke patient who lost dexterity in his left hand and could no longer play the guitar.  The flute  returned the music to his life and strengthened his hand.

“People are stopped in their tracks looking at Native American flutes just because of their beauty,” Kyle says.  “Some people buy them for pure aesthetics, but I want them to pick them up and play them.  They can be hesitant at first, thinking. ‘I don’t think I could play an instrument.’  But it takes very minimal breath, and there’s a flute for everyone.”

The Oldest House Indian Shop carries flutes ranging in price from $39 to $2,200 from flute makers including Odell Borg, Brent Haines, Colyn Petersen and Dan Selchow.  These passionate artists style their flutes off of the traditional Native American Flutes of the Plains and Woodlands people.  Woods used include walnut, cherry, birch, buckeye  burl, ebony and Brazilian rosewood.  Turquoise, mother of pearl, coral and shell inlay decorate the fine wood, along with leather.  The flutes, most of which are individually handmade, are accurately tuned to a specific key and play the notes of a minor pentatonic scale.

“You can play so many types of music on the Native American flute,” Kyle says.  “It doesn’t have to be Native American-style music.  I can play “Clocks” by Coldplay and “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”

The Oldest House Indian Shop is the best selling distributor for many of its flute makers due to quality craftsmanship and Kyle’s expertise.  Shop for your flute today at the Oldest House Indian Shop, 215 East De Vargas Street in Santa Fe.

Visit us online at http://www.oldesthouseindianshop.com

Phone:  505-988-2488

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Santo Domingo artist Robert Tenorio says after more than 45 years of creating pottery, he’s still trying to keep up with his grandmother’s methods, preserving the traditional designs and passing the knowledge down the generations.

Picking up his two great-nieces from elementary school on an early release day, he planned for them to paint bowls at his house for the afternoon.  “I love to see the little stick figures they paint,” he says.

“I don’t teach pottery.” he adds.  “That’s one of Grandma’s rules.  You learn by being around people doing it.  You learn every process from gathering the clay to firing just by being around the family.”

One of New Mexico’s foremost pueblo potters, Tenorio’s work was featured in 2016 on the poster and t-shirts developed by the Heard Museum in Phoenix for its “Celebrating the Art of Pottery” Indian Fair and Market.  Also in 2016, the Isleta Pueblo Arts and Crafts Fair honored him with its top award for an artist preserving traditional arts.

“I feel proud of that,” Tenorio says.  “I’m still trying my best to recreate the older styles with the traditional material.”

Using local yucca and other plant juices to make pigment and clay from around his village for his collectible pots, Tenorio features the traditional designs of his heritage.  He draws inspiration from ancient designs like the Mesa Verde steps, Mimbres animals and Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) geometrical shapes.  He gives each piece his on style by exaggerating a specific design element or by combining designs from the three traditions on a single pot.

Rick Smith, owner of the Oldest House Indian Shop, says Tenorio’s work is deeply appreciated by seasoned collectors and new visitors to New Mexico alike.  “I am fascinated not just with the imagery and process Robert makes use of, but with the essential meaning and importance he brings to his work and the quiet pleasure he derives from it,” Smith says.  “He is more than an artistic designer.  He is a storyteller preserving his culture, history and beliefs.  That is what I appreciate about his work.”

Visit the Oldest House Indian Shop today at 215 East De Vargas Street in Santa Fe to see Tenorio’s work along with a diverse array of Native American and Western collectibles.

Visit us online at http://www.oldesthouseindianshop.com

Phone:  505-988-2488

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The intricate and colorful mosaic components of a Charlene Reano necklace create wearable art that is a touchstone to the Southwest for visitors and locals alike.

Charlene Sanchez Reano and her husband Frank collaborate to create designs combining the traditional materials of Pueblo people with contemporary motifs.  Using shell, turquoise and other stones, the two create innovative Santo Domingo mosaic jewelry in vivid colors and varied textures.

“Charlene Reano’s pieces are a prime example of those touchstones to a moment or an experience that spark the imagination.” says Rick Smith, owner of the Oldest House Indian Shop in Santa Fe.

Frank comes from a Santo Domingo Pueblo family of jewelers and grew up learning the craft.  Charlene is from San Felipe Pueblo.  After studying at Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM, she cut and set stones for gold and silver inlay at a jewelry manufacturing company in Albuquerque.  Her sister-in-law Angie Reano, who is credited with reviving mosaic inlay among Santo Domingo jewelers, taught Charlene her craft, and she and Frank began making jewelry in the 1980s.  With Frank grinding the shell and doing the silverwork, Charlene creates, designs and cuts the tiny, fragile stones to form the multitude of mosaics that go into each piece.

See Charlene Reano’s beautiful jewelry at Oldest House Indian Shop at 215 East De Vargas Street in Santa Fe.  The shop offers a diverse array of Native American and Western collectibles.

visit us online at  http://www.oldesthouseindianshop.com

Phone:  505-988-2488

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The Oldest House Indian Shop at 215 E. De Vargas Street in Santa Fe is the new home of the Indian Shop at La Fonda, a retail destination for 27 years.

“We are very excited to be at the Oldest House,” says owner Rick Smith.  “This location is steeped in layers of history dating back to the 1200s.  Here our love of the timeless treasures created in the spirit of the cultures of Santa Fe, New Mexico and the Southwest combines with a fascinating community history spanning eight centuries.

The Oldest House Indian Shop welcomes visitors into the Oldest House Museum in the National Historic Landmark Barrio De Analco Historic District, one of the oldest residential neighborhoods of European origin in the United States.  A Part of the Spanish barrio originally settled in 1620, the Oldest House is also believed to rest on part of the foundation of an ancient Indian Pueblo built in the 1200s.  The New Mexico Tourism Department includes the Oldest House on its list of 15 must-see adobe structures.

Smith’s passion for sharing native American and Western collectibles shines through in the richly diverse pieces he offers.  His cases are packed with the work of notable potters, jewelers, carvers and Native American flute makers, and his knowledgeable staff members are happy to tell the stories behind the pieces.  The Oldest House Indian Shop features renowned artists including jewelers Murphy Platero and Ray Scott, Kachina carver Alton Honahni, flute makers Brent Haines and Colyn Petersen, folk artist Rory Alvarez and potters Robert Tenorio and Madeline Naranjo.  Along with his top-tier, distinctly-curated pieces, Smith offers intriguing curios for every for every collector’s budget.

“The pieces we offer in the Oldest House Indian Shop are touchstones to a moment or an experience,” Smith says.  “They are things that spark the imagination and encourage curiosity and exploration.  Here we provide a venue for the joy of being in Santa Fe.”

For more information visit the Oldest House Indian Shop, 215 East De Vargas Street, Santa Fe, NM  87501.

Visit us online at  http://www.oldesthouseindianshop.com

Phone:  505-988-2488

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