RedSun Jewelry & Design by Tol-pi-yiné Simbola

05/31/2025

3/3| "Mesa Del Yeso aka Kitchen Mesa Bolo w/ Italian Coral 'RedSun' Rising"

A piece I can truly be proud of. A culmination of my time spent there, in the studio at school, at home, recovering and replacing stolen pieces, researching and sketching, making tools to help, doing things over and over, getting frustrated, feeling like I took on too much, and in the end - being more than satisfied with how it came out. It didn't come out exactly the way I envisioned and it's far from perfect (I see ALL the little imperfections) but with that said. I'm happy.

Take a trip and see it in person at the Florence Hawley Ellis Museum of Anthropology on site at Ghost Ranch. It's in the first display case you see when you walk in 😁✨.

Enjoy.

05/31/2025

2/3| "Kitchen Mesa" Sterling Silver Textured Earrings.

*Video silde 7*

One of the main & coolest components of my Ghost Ranch project that ended up the hardest. I had the idea of not only making a bolo representing Kitchen Mesa, but to incorporate the actual texture from it on the bolo tips. So I bought some 2 part silicone putty, not sure if my idea would work, but with it in hand I hiked up with my buddy/fellow artist & after about an hour we made it up 😅. Found 2 good spots, mixed it up, took a safety meeting, & BAM! It worked!! 🙌🏽

After I had the silicone pieces it was time to try to get a good wax impression, this took a lot of trial and error because of what I had available and never doing anything like this before. I ended up using a heat gun and melting and layering multiple pieces of thin wax sheets & a bunch of of other stuff 😆 but in the end I got a good size piece & thick enough sheet to lost wax cast.

In the end, the pieces I cut from the sheet were stolen along with most of my jewelry unfortunately & since I had cast it at school & didn't have access to a lost wax casting machine - It was almost impossible to recreate that texture in time.

It's in the past & on a positive note, I have the molds to make more soon as well as had enough in my studio to make these awesome earrings that I hadn't even thought of before! ✨😁

Available at the Ghost Ranch Museum

05/31/2025

1/3| "Winds Over Piedra Lumbre"

Sterling silver repoussé brooch created for my Eight Northern residency at Ghost Ranch.

(Repoussé: Shaped or ornamented with patterns in relief made by hammering or pressing on the reverse side)

This brooch was inspired during my time at Ghost Ranch & as I was sitting at my makeshift bench in the studio next to my Casita tying to find something to make to practice - it was so windy at the time that I couldn't concentrate. Then it came to me that as the wind is annoying even sometimes destructive in the city or at home - Here, it had a completely different meaning. The wind was moving steadily across the basin, stirring dust (in my eyes), bending dry grasses, slowly carving the sandstone, & tracing invisible spirals through the canyon air. I watched it shift and turn, and shaped this brooch to follow its path. It's as perfect & imperfect like the wind that inspired it.

It was a great starting point & "practice" to get back in the flow of the Tap Tap Tap Tap 🔨🔨🔨🔨😅
residency

05/31/2025

Had a fantastic turnout & a GREAT time at the opening reception for the Eight Northern: Ghost Ranch Artist Residency last night ✨😁. I was selected to represent Picuris Pueblo for a 12 day residency last September and it was so cool to be around other artists with nothing to do but create. I chose to create a repoussé bolo depicting the Mesa Del Yeso or "Kitchen Mesa" which was directly outside of my front door when I opened my Casita but also to push my limits and skillset. It is quite the sight to see in person. I didn't get many pictures of the work 😅 but the festivities and company seemed more important.
Big THANK YOU to my mom Shannon McCrady for not only helping my hatch out my ideas - but for spending her day and last couple weeks teaching and still making her way up to support me while looking great! Love ya ma ❤️ we were fortunate to get a room for the night so we didn't have to drive back and that turned out to be perfect. It was a beautiful morning, did some bizzness, went to Echo Canyon, had lunch, and stopped at the Abiquiú Dome. All the late nights and burnt fingers were worth it.
S/O to all the people and friends that made it out to the Ranch!

Our works will be on display at the Florence Hawley Ellis Museum there on site Ghost Ranch for the next year! So definitely check it out if you get a chance - some amazing prints, paintings, photos, pottery, and of course jewelry ✨ all done by us 8 Northerners & available to purchase as well 😉

05/16/2025

Had the awesome opportunity of working on Dark Winds yesterday 🎬🎥😄 I happened to live about 10 minutes away from the studio, finished my finals this week, so it was perfect timing. I was in a 50s flashback scene - all dressed up with dress pants , dress shoes, a wife be**er and silky button up - did I mention WAIST HIGH pants??👖🤣😆 I really wish I got a photo of all of us in black and white to post.. next time! ✨

05/16/2025

Graduation gift I had the pleasure of creating for a special family friend ✨ Congratulations Aaron!! 👏🏽🎓🎉

05/03/2025

In other DragonnFly possibilities...✨ A positive detailed silicone mold!! 😄👏🏽🙌🏽 Now that I have this master that will hold up after multiple use, won't crack, can be dropped 😅 & can potentially last 15 - 20 years (not that I would need it that long) - I can produce a variety of other molds for jewelry, glass, sculpture, ceramic, resin, chocolate, soap, etc.. 😂🫗🧼🍫📿🗿🪞🤩😁 This is great because not all castings come out & this would have been a one try shot. Can't thank enough for the suggestion to take the time & make this mold right at the last moment before the kiln 🔥🤙🏽
🤣🤣

05/03/2025

Had a pretty exciting day today as the semester wraps up at 🔥😁🔥
I was able to slip in one of my wax Dragonnflies into the bronze casting today & got a pour to see how the quick sand casting would turn out. It'll take some grinding to clean up but not bad!! 👏🏽 Excited to see & explore more sculptural possibilities ✨

04/26/2025

Custom 11 Row Dragon Skinn Cuff headed to 🇲🇫🗼🥐😁.

04/25/2025

04/24/2025

I originally sculpted a dragonfly from clay so that I could make ONE-TIME use mold for glass casting. I went to pick my glass and the teacher asked what I used for my initial mold and I told him I made it from clay. He looked surprised and wanted to make sure that I had made a mold from it, I said no 😅 he then said that I could soak and wet the plaster mold and then pour in liquid wax, let it harden under cold water and BAM!! Multiples of my dragonfly that I can now modify, cast, and most importantly - make a silicone mold that I can save and easily produce more without water or the brittle plaster mold. 🤯🙌🏽😏😁✨✨✨