Charlene & Frank Reano - Native American - Santo Domingo (Ke-Wa) / San Felipe

Charlene Sanchez Reano was born at the San Felipe Pueblo in 1960.  Her marriage to Frank Reano of the Santo Domingo Pueblo made her part of the famed jewelry/pottery family.  Frank's mother is Clara Lovato Reano whose work extends back to the 1940's. His sister Angie Reano Owen is widely credited in reviving the ancient Anasazi mosaic work (see her collection elsewhere on my site).

Charlene got her start in a jewelry shop doing stone and inlay work.   Her style is influenced by her mother-in-law (Clara L. Reano) who was doing mosaic work during World War II from basically, junk (various pieces of bakelite, vinyl, and auto batteries.)

Frank learned from his sister, Angie (see elsewhere)

Charlene and Frank first started making jewelry together in the 1980s.  Now they work both independently and together.  When they collaborate, Charlene typically does the design, cutting, layout, and setting while Frank does the finishing grinding and polishing. There are several things that set their work apart; they select and use high quality materials, the design work is beautiful, but the finishing is impeccable and very noticeable.  Their pieces are incredibly smooth and have a beautiful shine.  

One of their specialties are incredibly intricate reversible pieces that carry a different color scheme on each side, they are a wonder to behold. There are a lot of mosaic crafts people in Ke-Wa, the Reanos are artists, which explains their ever growing collection of ribbons from Santa Fe Indian Market, IACA, and Heard.