Last week I found myself in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and while walking down Pagosa Street saw some very interesting vases, I guess you’d call them, in the window of Southwest Elegance Jewelry (their web site is under construction).
They were made from partially burned junipers salvaged after a wildfire by Geri and Ronnie Dunnington of Bear Paw Turnings and then turned on a lathe. That in itself would be unusual, but then they inserted turquoise inlays in some of the cracks in the wood, which produces a rather stunning appearance. In the carved-out center they added a glass vase so that it can hold water and cut flowers.
The pieces that were on display in the store were in three different sizes, from about 1.5-feet to 4-feet tall. The prices ranged roughly from $600 to $700. The single one pictured here had a $650 price tag and was about 3.5-feet tall.
I tried to get a closer picture of the inlaid turquoise, but this is the best that my point and shoot camera could come up with.
The vases can be purchased at Southwest Elegance Jewelry at 456 Pagosa Street in Pagosa Springs, CO, or by contacting Bear Paw Turnings at P.O. Box 294, Lake City, CO 81235, 970-944-2310
In my conversation with Robert Bradshaw and his wife who own the store, it turns out that their son is a member of the San Juan Hot Shots based at Durango, Colorado. When I was in the store the crew had just been moved from the Fourmile fire near Boulder to the nearby Reservoir Road fire west of Loveland.
