This early Valentine’s Day Trunk Show will feature the work of Aldrich Art, opening Friday, February 3, 2017 from 5:00-7:00 pm at Sorrel Sky Gallery’s downtown location at 828 Main Ave. Spotlighting original, handmade designs by this husband and wife team, the show will continue throughout February.
Valerie and Benny Aldrich met while attending Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. After a few years of marriage, Benny took a basic jewelry class at a community college. That winter, with little money, Valerie and Benny made jewelry together for Christmas gifts. As the family grew to include four children, they experimented in bead making and shell overlays. In the 1970s, Valerie and Benny began their full-time career as jewelry makers. Over the following decades, the couple grew their business in Prescott, Arizona.
The Aldrich’s were among the first to use gemstones for accenting their inlay. They also revived spiny oyster as a jewelry material some thirty years ago. Valerie’s creativity and natural flair for color makes every individual piece of inlay a work of art. Each piece of jewelry is completed by hand, one at a time. Benny then frames the inlay with beautiful hand stamped silver or gold. Numerous celebrities and politicians have collected their work including Elton John, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Tom Selleck, Michael Douglas, and former VP Fritz Mondale.
For close to 40 years they have refined their skills and touched the lives of many. In their words, “We are creating expressions of love, beauty and perfection for ourselves and others, using the elements of the earth and sea as they pass from hands to hands in completeness.”
Sorrel Sky Gallery owner, Shanan Campbell Wells, sees their work as united labors of love. “Valerie and Benny share such a strong bond, with each other, with their family. Their wish to communicate love and beauty … it is so evident in each design. Their pieces are warm and genuine, an ideal choice for conveying your own feelings.”
Sorrel Sky Gallery’s fresh approach to Western art presents a select collection of contemporary and traditional fine art and jewelry for the discerning collector. Sorrel Sky Gallery was founded in Durango, CO in 2002 and opened its Santa Fe, NM location in 2014. It represents over 90 painters, sculptors and jewelers including bronze artist Star Liana York, painter Kevin Red Star, and jewelry artist Ben Nighthorse, among others.