Western furniture brings natural elements indoors

Creating a beautiful, authentic Western living space in your home has never been easier than when you furnish with handcrafted buffets and credenzas from Andy Sanchez, Aaron Sanchez and their family, longtime woodcrafters at Andy Sanchez Furniture who design natural wood furnishings for the home.

Located in New Mexico, the artists create Santa Fe-inspired pieces that are blended with Stickley-style Arts and Crafts designs. They have become a leader in fine furniture for everyday use. Andy Sanchez Furniture’s buffets and credenzas are beautiful, impressive pieces of furniture that should draw as much attention in the home as they do use. The rustic wood pieces incorporate semi-precious stones and other natural objects such as shells and coral, to create interesting, functional works of art.

Any Western-decorated home is not complete without a piece of furniture designed by Andy and Aaron – two of the industry’s most talented woodworking artists. They believe that just because a piece of furniture serves a purpose, such as housing fine table wear, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t also inspire those who gather around the table, credenza or buffet for a meal and conversation.

What’s more, handcrafted pieces made by Andy Sanchez Furniture can also be brought into the office or workplace to be used and admired. Every piece is finished with a hand rubbed oil and wax finish, making them durable while still showcasing their natural beauty. Transforming any space with authentic Western décor, brought to you by Andy Sanchez Furniture, will create centerpieces for discussion and admiration for years to come.

Complete your Western home with other authentic Andy Sanchez Furniture pieces including hutches, bar tops, sculptures and more. Accessorizing with complementary throws, pillows and rugs will tie in all the elements of your beautiful Western living space

Bedroom Furniture Built to Last

After a long day of work, taking care of the kids, running errands and doing anything else that makes life busy, where is the one place you can’t wait to get to? If you said your bed, well that’s our answer too!

Your bedroom is not only a place to rest your head at night, it’s also a room that truly reflects your style. When shopping around for that “perfect” bedroom set, you may be finding it difficult, as a lot of sets seem to all look the same and lack style and originality.

We’d like to offer you the chance of purchasing a bedroom sets that serves multiple purposes and is unique in its own kind.

First, our bedroom sets are crafted from the very finest of woods, making the bed extremely sturdy and built to last for generations. No synthetic materials are ever used.

Secondly, you can customize your bed by simply giving us a call and discussing what you like. We can mix wood varieties, sizes and styles to guarantee your bed is a reflection of the ideal bed for you.

Third, is our attention to detail. We enjoy inscribing pictures into the wood, adding wooden animal sculptures and back-lit headboards.

Fourth, our bedroom furniture reflects the American west. Now you can bring history and tradition into your home that you can be proud of.  Moreover, you can complement the décor theme of your bedroom with other western art and/or decorations.

The time and attention we put into each piece of furniture we create, especially our bedroom furniture, ensures that people are provided with distinct options, rather than the same tiresome bedroom sets that you see in every corporate retail store. Our furniture is 100% original, and can really add an exciting and appealing element to the décor of your home.

Some Work in Progress and Christmas Ideas

Hello,

We have so much to be thankful for! We all know that, but I’m glad to be reminded of it and celebrate it every Nov. Especially thankful this year that we live in a country that votes for our leaders instead of having revolutions and riots. Don’t waste the opportunity!

We have some new projects I thought you might like to view, one in progress and one finished.  I am also going to try to tempt you with a few Christmas gift ideas. Most of us are at least starting to think about it.

God bless you all,

Andy’s Gang

(Anyone remember that show? We are old!)

Chess Set in Progress

Andy is working on a new chess set called, “Ancient Game”, The carved alabaster pieces are finished and he just needs to make the board table. The red and the grey alabaster are native to our area. We chose the gray alabaster to represent the native Americans.

The red alabaster seemed appropriate for the animal kingdom. A lot of the stones and soil in our area is red so the red would be a natural camouflage for our animals. Chess is a game of strategy and stealth, something that both the hunter and the hunted would need. With our chess pieces the hunter can become the hunted. It is only through their cunning that they have an advantage.

Majestic Queen	Fearless King

Andy and Skyhorse Saddles have collaborated on their second saddle. Andy, of course, did all of the wood and inlays. Loren and Lisa are world class saddle-makers and you can see more of their work at Skyhorse.com. The leather is all hand-carved. If you missed their first collaboration, you can find pictures on our blog which you can find a connection to on our web site page.

The Saddle

We have many more smaller and larger gifts for Christmas. Here are a couple for you to check out.

Call for more information

We have several cross and angel wall hangings with inlays of stone. $185

We also have a collection of Native American designs.

Framed Zuni design painted on wood by Carlton Comosona  $500

A Zuni representation of “Rainbow Man” $450

An original hand-painted hat-rack with horseshoe hangers. $175

Wester Art by Mandy Wooten

I’m sitting here working on this week’s Western Vault newsletter. The focus this week is western art. As I get deeper into it, I am realizing that there really is no end to what art really is. It can be paintings, sculptures, woodwork, leatherwork, jewelry, clothes (wearable art), and even interior design. Beyond that, the mediums are also endless- canvas, bronze, clay, cloth, leather, wood, your home, gourds, and the list goes on. No matter what medium is used to create whatever piece of art is created, there is one common denominator. That is vision.

Gourd Art by Jodi Finkenbinder

Leather Art by Clair Kehrberg

Bronze Sculpture by H. Clay Dahblerg

Canvas by Steve Devenyns

All of the artists that I work with create their one-of-a-kind pieces with their own hands and are guided by a unique vision- whether it be a specific event, a story from their own lives, something or someone they love, or just something that means so much to them that they want to share it with others.

When I met Andy & Cheryl Sanchez at a show in Grapevine a couple of weeks ago, I was admiring their woodwork. I had seen it in pictures, but pictures do no justice to the beauty in every one of their pieces. The way that they let the wood guide their designs is absolutely amazing to me. The visions that they have for each piece of juniper are guided by the wood itself- the direction of the grain, the imperfections, the unique qualities and personalities. Did you know wood had personality? I didn’t until I saw Andy & Aaron’s work firsthand. WOW.

Redwood Bar Table by Andy & Aaron Sanchez

At the show, Andy caught me looking at one of Aaron’s sculptures called “Business Distractions.” I understood most of the story without any explanation at all, but Andy completed it for me. The story is of two businessmen’s attraction to one woman. They watch in admiration as she glides down the sidewalk. I got that, but Andy told me the rest of the story. The raised piece of wood that I portrayed as the sidewalk is wavy to represent the woman’s perfume trail. A woman walks down the sidewalk, leaving a beautiful trail of perfume that captivates the men as she passes by. Aaron’s unique vision of this particular piece of wood is something I would never be able to see in its raw state. That vision is what separates great artists from the rest of us.

“Business Distractions” by Aaron Sanchez

See the sidewalk and the perfume trail that follows the woman? I love this piece. I’m so thankful for artists that can see beautiful things in what I see as the most ordinary objects. My world would be so dull without them!

Joe Netherwood

Skyhorse at Safari Club International

This year at Safari Club International there will be a couple of new artists amongst the crowd.  Lisa and Loren Skyhorse are in the booth next to us and we are collaborating on several pieces. They are skilled leather artists that specialize in beautiful saddles.  Each of their saddles are custom made to meet the need of the horse and rider.  As artists who love working with their clients, we can really appreciate what the Skyhorses do for their clients.  A saddle is a very personal accessory to the equestrian sport.  It joins the horse with it’s rider and each time they unite it is important that this indispensable piece of equipment is well made and designed to represent the style and taste of the rider. Their saddles include intricate leather carving and silver accents.

As well as saddles, the Skyhorse’s do plenty of other projects with their leather work all the way from personal hand bags to architectural designs.  We have been talking with Lisa and Loren over the past few months and have come up with a collaborative idea for a rocking chair and some home decor. Make sure to come by and see it at this year’s Safari Club International show in Reno, Nevada, January 26th-29th.  Our booth number is 3302-3401.  We will also be displaying a beautiful saddle and saddle horse that we collaborated on in November of 2010.  We have a few photos of the saddle below.

Check Mate, Cowboy!

This year we have been playing in the shop! We really feel that way about most of the work we do but this year we’ve been branching out to do a little more on the sculpting side. I’ve been sculpting for years and have finally put my skills to the test with our latest piece, The Show Down.  It is a cowboy and Indian themed chess set made from cotton wood (for the cowboys) and black walnut (for the Indians).  Just as the chess set was modified from the its origin in the Middle East to reflect the culture of Europe during the Middle Ages we have re-renovated it, telling the story of the Wild West during the and 17th, 18th and 19th century.

On the cowboys’ side we have a mayor with a tall black hat representing the king and for the queen we designed a piece we like to call “Belle Starr.”  Starr was notorious in the Old West for being a woman outlaw; she would definitely be a powerful queen.
Since the Roman Catholic Church had a lot of influence in the old west, especially up and down the Rio Grande, the Bishops, decorated with lapis tones, kept their position next to the two most powerful pieces on the board.
In the place of the knights we have old west gunslingers (appointed by Star of course). For the rooks we have a couple of outpost towers and finally for the pawns we have pawns. Nobody knows what a pawn is anyway, why change it?  In the Middle Ages, the pawn represented the common folk and so our pawns represent all the town’s people. Their heads are made from coral.

On the Indian’s side for the King and Queen we have the Sioux Indian Chief, Red Cloud and his wife. Red Cloud was famous for being the only Indian Chief to defeat the U.S. in a war! For bishops, we put the Indian Medicine Men in charge, dressed with lapis lazuli stone. They were often considered wise and powerful men in the Indian tribes.
Next to the Medicine Men are a couple of warriors from the Mohawk tribe. Their mohawks are made from solid copper!  For the rooks we put some classic Indian tepees with solid copper smoke coming out of the top.
On the Indian side, the pawns are decorated with turquoise heads with no hats, showing that the Indians had shaved their heads to be ready for battle. They might be a little bit more intimidating than the town folks on the cowboys side.

This set took us about three times longer to do than most of the tables or other pieces that we do around the shop but it turned out to be something that blew us away once we had finished it.  It is so gratifying to see something we’ve worked on finally finished and set up to only exceed what we thought it would look like.

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!   Leave us a link to any cool chess sets you have discovered. We would love to see!
Thanks
Aaron Sanchez

“Saddle Up”

During the last show that we went to my dad and mom met up with a couple named Lorin and Lisa Skyhorse.  They are skilled saddle makers that have turned their craft into an art.  After talking over some ideas, Andy and the Skyhorses came up with a few collaborative ideas that we’ve been excited to get to work on.

The first idea is a wooden saddle tree carved and sculpted by Andy with hand carved leather work and vintage silver from the Skyhorses.  Its debut will be at the Cowboy Christmas show in Las Vegas Nevada December 2nd-11th.

Both Andy and the Skyhorses are using materials that they have been saving for something special.  Andy selected a piece of wood that works perfectly for the cantle of the saddle tree. This particular piece of alligator juniper has been waiting for this saddle for over ten years.  This well-cured juniper complements the leather that the Skyhorses have selected and hand-carved. Their silver has been waiting for over 40 years for this project. It is old Mexican style, with silver scroll work cut out and overlaid on silver backing. We feel greatly honored to be a part of this experience!

We’ve posted a sneak peek of our part. Let us know what you think by commenting in the box below.

AndySanchez.com