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If you come across a porcupine on the side of the road this summer, save it for Randi Nelson. The Yukon-based artist is going to need all the quills she can get her hands on to keep up with various places she’s showing her work between June and August. “I’m always on the lookout,” Nelson says.

“Often other people will find them on the side of the road and bring them to me ...



I honour them by being able to use their quills. It’s a lot of work to clean and source them ..

. and nice to be able to know where the animal has come from.” Where are those quills going, once Nelson has hand-dyed them and worked them into her art practice? The Santa Fe Indian Market in New Mexico.

“It’s something I’ve always been interested in,” Nelson says. “It’s a milestone to be in. It’s prestigious and hard to get into.

” The 102-year-old market, which features North American Native craft from across Canada and the United States, juries on a scale that awards applicants points for their work, including for every component that’s hand-harvested, sourced, made or otherwise incorporated into finished work including jewellery, clothing, ceramics, sculpture, beadwork and more. They don’t accept reprints. They don’t accept certain materials.

Everything must be original high art. Nelson applied in two categories, including diverse arts, and beadwork and quillwork. She said she was thrilled to be accepted and even more excited to be travelling with a cohort of artists from.

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