Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Turning Metal into works of art

Haley Wachdorf News-Bulletin Staff Writer; hwachdorf@news-bulletin.com

Bosque For Ralph Sena, the only thing more rewarding than creating his art is passing skills on to his students. And he's had plenty of success at both.

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Sena, a metal smith who makes everything from jewelry to sculptures, got his start in the art world early in life by befriending Native American jewelry makers in downtown Albuquerque when he accompanied his grandmother on her errands. While she shopped, young Sena would watch the crafters and talk with them.

"I was so impressed because I was surrounded by showcases of incredibly beautiful jewelry," the Bosque artist said. "In that period, there was a familiarity struck up, and it was every day. If I didn't come, the next time they saw me, they would say 'Where were you?'"

Sena said he was fascinated by the beautiful stones and intricate silver work of the jewelry and was interested in learning how to make his own. The first piece he made was given to a girl at school.

"My first piece of jewelry I made was from a real silver quarter," he said. "It was a practice at the time when I was in about the eighth or ninth grade was that you would make a ring out of a quarter for a girl. And you drilled a hole in a quarter and you put it on a heavy spike and, with a spoon, you flared the edge while you struck it, and you would finish it off with a file. I think I only made about two of those and, after about two rejections, I gave that up."

But he didn't give up his work. Sena continued to teach himself, and he also sought out the advice of crafters he knew. He said some of his most valuable advice came from a jewelry supply store owner he befriended.

"He had a little store on South Edith, and, when I would go in for supplies, he took me aside and said 'You know what? You're doing good work already. You need some help picking out stones. If you put a good stone in, you're still going to have the same amount of time and metal and, if you look at those three elements, the weak link is the stone. If you use a quality stone, it will cost you more, but you will sell it faster.'"

Sena's jewelry work is primarily in filigree, the art of twisting very fine wire into intricate patterns. Sena has been recognized by many Hispanic cultural heritage groups for his contribution to the arts, but Sena said, since he learned his craft first from Native American friends, he knows his cultural influences are more complicated than meets the eye. Early in his career, he said, he even worried that he was doing something wrong by working in the turquoise and silver trade, where he was taught by and sold his work primarily to Native Americans.

"My best customers were my Native American co-workers," he said. "And it bothered me a little because I felt like I was crossing over a line, that it wasn't traditional for them to be buying from someone who was not Native American. So I asked this one lady, I said 'I am a little bit confused. Why would you buy my work?' And she said "That's like saying only the French can paint, and only the Italians can be sculptors, and only Native Americans can be silver and turquoise jewelers.'"

In more recent years, Sena has expanded his list of skills to include blacksmithing. Sena said he was interested in learning to blacksmith because he knew that his earliest ancestor to settle in New Mexico was a blacksmith. So again, he returned to his roots, and as it turned out, he was a natural.

"In honor of my father and my heritage, I wanted to learn blacksmithing," he said. "So I encountered a young lady who wanted to learn to be a jeweler, and her husband was a blacksmith, so he took me under his wing and he taught me. He said 'Ralph, I can tell you're not afraid of the fire. Can you remember back far enough to know if you were a blacksmith in another time?' He was just teasing, but since I started blacksmithing five or six years ago, I have been lucky enough to win some awards in it, and I think I have made him proud and I think I've made the memory of my father proud."

Over the years, Sena said, he has taken almost every offer to collaborate with other artists that has come his way. Since he returned from a career with the Bureau of Land Management and has focused his full attention on his art, he has also taken several students. Sena said some artists are very protective of their knowledge of the craft, but he feels that teaching aspiring artists and working alongside other artists has only made him a stronger artist in turn.

"The most important thing I do is teach," he said. "I have a half-dozen really exceptional students and I have taught three adults, or, my competition, which doesn't bother me in the least. I told my mentor, I can't believe you're sharing all this with me, but he said 'It's good for the craft, it's good for you as an artist, and it's good for the public, that the craft keeps improving.' I have subscribed to that philosophy for the better part of 47 years. I love to teach and I found out it makes me dig deep into myself and say 'Why am I doing it this way?' It's made me a better craftsman myself."

After 47 years in a craft, some people might be looking for a change. Not Sena.

"My goal was just to do my work, and it's what makes me happy," he said. "This is my validation. Everybody has their thing, writers, sculptors, painters, you have that thing that really stirs you. I've been doing this for 47 years and I'm not even close to being tired of it. Every morning I'm out in my shop at 4 a.m. without the help of an alarm clock with my first cup of coffee, working."

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