Discovering the Unique Beauty of Tufa Casts in Aaron Anderson's World

Award-winning artist Aaron Anderson is very well known for making his jewelry using tufa carving and casting techniques. He prides himself on original designs and in most cases only casts one piece from the carved tufa stone design. Other silversmiths make similar styles of jewelry but use a very different technique that allows them to cast one design numerous times. This style of casting, where the same design is used again as sandcasting. Tufa casting is different than sand casting, but the term sandcast is used frequently when referring to a different technique used to make silver pieces.

Sandcast or Tufa Cast

The terms sandcast and tufa cast are often used when referring to a technique Navajo silversmiths use to make jewelry. Terminology can make it very confusing to understand exactly what technique was used when making a piece of jewelry. Native Americans are quite resourceful and learned to use what they had. They observed that the landscape in the Four Corners region of the Southwest was filled with rock formations. Those first Navajo silver smiths learned that some of these rock formations could be carved. Then they learned that they were able to carve designs into the rock to make jewelry. This rock was found in the sandstone formations in the area. At the time, they thought that it too, was sandstone and the technique they were using earned the name sandcasting when what they created turned into jewelry. However, it has always been tufa stone that was used by Navajo silversmiths. An actual sandstone would be much harder and most likely crack from the heat needed to make a piece of silver jewelry.

Aaron Anderson "on the hunt" for precious tufa stone among other types of stone in the mountains.

Sandcast - Cement Casting

If a design is used repeatedly the original comes from a tufa carving. After the original is made, the artist will create a lead template of the design that can be used again in a future casting. Some families have passed down these designs from generation to generation. The technique used to make these pieces repeatedly is called cement casting. A tufa stone can allow for more than one casting but it will eventually become useless, and the carved design will break apart. Cement casting can allow the design to be cast multiple times.

Resourceful silversmiths originally learned how to take the dust from their tufa carvings and turn it into one of the components of cement. Today’s silversmiths can readily purchase cement that can be used to make a cement casting mold. The difficulty in being a successful Native American jeweler is creating popular designs that the public wants to purchase repeatedly. Fred Harvey, one of the first successful businessmen saved the designs that were created by those who worked for him and put them into a catalog. He tracked the success of various designs which provided him with data regarding those that were the most popular. He then started to “manufacture” jewelry replicating only the popular designs based upon that collected data. Native American silversmiths soon learned which patterns that they had created sold well and started to create cement casts of those patterns. This helped them to become more successful with cast jewelry now that they had that type of knowledge too.

Cement Casting process including making a wooden form, filling it with cement and creating a lead design template to press into the cement in the form and then making an imprint in the cement.

Cement sidewalks are made by first fabricating a wooden form and then filling it with cement.  The process for silversmiths to create a cement cast is basically the same. Once the silversmith has created a lead design or template and it meets his/her esthetic standards, it’s put aside until the cement cast is ready. The silversmith will create his cement and pour it into a form. Then the lead template is pressed against the packed wet cement to imprint the design. The silver is heated into a liquid form and then poured into the cement mold. The process for making a tufa cast piece of silver is virtually the same.

However, because the cement is much smoother than a tufa carving, the piece of silver that comes out doesn’t require as much cleaning. Cement casting produces a silver piece that is relatively smooth, but a tufa cast piece is rougher in appearance. Both processes can be repeated several times, however in the case of cement casts, it’s a stronger material so the number of repeated castings is much higher. The process can theoretically be repeated until one has the number of pieces needed, or there is no more silver.   These designs have captured the style and rustic look of Navajo silver for over a century, and some of the most beautiful pieces of Navajo silver have been made this way. Of course, the silversmith can add stamping, other silver work like drops and cutouts plus a turquoise stone to give each piece a unique look.

The cement casting process continues in these pictures wit the silver being melted, then poured into the cement form and ultimately removed after the silver has cooled down.

Tufa Carving - Casting

Aaron Anderson is part of a small group of Navajo silversmiths who are creating new designs and styles using tufa carving and casting techniques. Aaron’s pieces command a higher price point since he is only making one casting of his designs. Other artists routinely cast several casts of the same design. He and a select number of other artists covet certain tufa from different areas. Not all tufa is created equal, and these top artists find those special tufa sources. Aaron will only use tufa from a specific area. Some of them talk about a special tufa only found on Hopi land that was used by world renowned Hopi artist Charles Loloma. Aaron describes a secret source that is in a top-secret location south of Gallup. Good tufa stone will be a certain hardness that allows for a detailed carving that will not break apart and hold up during the heating process and hot pour of the silver into the carved stone.

This good tufa stone is mined and not just sitting there on the top of the ground for easy picking. It is a very labor-intensive job and those who find good sources keep the location for that stone a secret. For those reasons the better-quality tufa stone can be expensive, and it can provide a good stream of income by selling it to local supply houses and artists. Tufa stone is sold in blocks, which the artist cuts to size for their project.  A typically sized bracelet would require a cut of approximately 10” long by 2” thick. That piece will again be cut in half down the center so when it comes time to pour the silver into the carved design one-half will be used as a cover. Tufa artists will often carve their name into this top piece, which will then be the hallmark when it is complete. The amount of skill required to create a tufa design with lots of detail is incredible because it is the bottom of the carving that is the top of the bracelet. Each artist must think of each piece and what it would look like from underneath it and then carve that into the stone.

The process of tufa casting is different than cement casting. The tufa stone can be drawn upon prior to being carved and heated up to receive the melted silver.

Tufa stone can provide artists with an endless opportunity to create whatever they desire including necklaces, concho belts, rings, pendants, bracelets and whatever else they can imagine. The key to a successful piece involves repeated careful measuring and a drawing on the stone. If the piece is not centered on the stone, it will not work, so centering it in the design phase will translate to a centered fit. The next phase involves carving the design into the tufa stone. This is where the tufa stone can be etched to create texture and carved at different levels for dimension. Once the design has been carved to the satisfaction of the artist and the decision has been made that it’s time to cast the design, it’s time to start heating the stone and melting the silver. Once the stone reaches the right temperature, it is tied to the other half of the stone so that the grooves that have been carved into the top of the stone align and the silver can flow in. Last, the melted silver will be poured into the stone and immediately the silver hardens. The two stones are separated, and the silver cast piece is put into water. Once the cast piece of silver is removed from the water, the artist cleans the piece and starts the process of beginning to turn it into a piece of wearable art.

Once the silver has cooled, the piece can be removed from the form and placed in water to cool. Then the refinement takes place! That's when the filing and polishing make the piece come to life in the form that the artist originally envisioned. This also includes shaping into whatever the artist planned, for example a ring, bracelet, belt buckle or whatever.

So, the next time you see a cast bracelet, stop and think about the process that the artist went through to create it! Handcrafted jewelry is typically a bit more expensive than manufactured jewelry but hopefully understanding how it was created can help you realize why that is the case. Some artists such as Aaron Anderson use the tufa cast only once and that tufa stone is often part of the purchase when one buys one of their pieces of jewelry. That helps the owner understand just how unique their purchase really is.

This is an example of a ring that was made by Aaron Anderson and it's sitting on the tufa cast that was used to create it.

Tufa Stone used to cast this ring created by Aaron Anderson available at Tanner Tradition in Ruidoso, NM. Aaron is known for his ONE OF THE KIND Tufa casting jewelry. Tufa cast is one of oldest ways of jewelry making for Native Americans. Most of his pieces are sold with the mold he designs and carves. His designs range from traditional to contemporary.  

Navajo silversmith Aaron Anderson was born 1970 in Gallup, New Mexico, on the edge of the Navajo Reservation. Aaron is from a family of artists. He would watch his stepfather (Will Begay), and uncle (Wilford Henry) produce exceptional work, and began helping them in 1991. Aaron has been an active silversmith since 1996. He is known for his tufa cast jewelry, and says his inspiration comes from Charles Loloma. Every cast piece is hand carved and completely unique as the tufa blocks can only be used once.

Aaron, a third-generation artist, is a leader in the Native American art community.

He is very passionate about his work and has no problem sharing his thoughts with the world. His creativity and workmanship speaks for itself and is highly valued among art collectors and fellow artists around the world. Aaron uses elements from his strong Christian faith as well as traditional Native American designs.

Aaron has won many blue ribbons at every show he enters, including eight best in casting at the famed Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial. Today he shows at the Indigenous fine art market in Santa Fe and the Native Jewelers Society.