Hello, my name is Nicholas “Nick” Nez. I am a Native American from the Diné (Navajo) Tribe. I am from the Black Streak wood people and born for the Coyote Pass clan. I spent most of my life on the Navajo Nation Reservation in a small town called Chinle which is in Northeastern Arizona, USA. I am happily married and have 3 daughters and 1 son. For the past 14 years I have been working in the EMS field, I am currently a Paramedic. Prior to my EMS career, I have made several pieces of jewelry but did not continue due to having the responsibility of starting a family at a young age and made it an obligation to work full time. One of the pieces though, being a butterfly pendent/necklace won 1st place in the 2009 Navajo Nation fair art contest. Currently, I have been slowly working on buying and getting my tools back together for the past I would say 2 years.
Through out my time with EMS, I have been coming up with designs and drawing sketches of modern/ contemporary jewelry with a Native American flair. I have numerous sketch books full of beauty and I am now wanting to share it with the world. The designs that I come up with have no significant meanings to the Native American community but its wearable native art. I am a first generation silversmith and basically self taught. I have found that when I design a piece, all my lines/curves have to flow in a way that makes the piece unique and one of a kind. I make handmade jewelry with the overlay technique and also have been working with tufa casting. I work with heavy gauge sterling silver and multiple styles of stones.
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