2009-02-19

For some artists, God is in the details

By Judith Pannebaker

Tucked away at the corner of Highway 16 and Main Street is Bucking Pony Leather, an eclectic little shop that features custom leather work by Nancy Ennis and her fiancé, Clayton Powell – when he’s in-county, that is.

When prospective clients enter Ennis’ Dickensian-with-a-western-bent emporium, the refreshingly frank proprietor makes several things perfectly clear up front.

“This is a China-free zone,” Ennis stated unequivocally. “Nothing in this shop has been made in China. I could mass order and sell all kinds of things might look really good to the average tourist, but I won’t do it. I don’t sell anything – including consignments – that isn’t made in America.”

Additionally, Ennis eschews “bead-stringing” and “hot glue guns” when creating her one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. “I’m getting to where I hate to say I make jewelry because everyone is stringing beads these days,” Ennis offered.

Symmetry, it seems, isn’t her thing. “My pieces are never repetitive. I can break the rules or just make them up as I go along and break them later. That’s why I love what I do.”

Since Ennis sometimes take months to complete a necklace, she tries to avoid clients with strict timelines. “The question always becomes, ‘Does it look good’?” she said. “For me, every piece must flow and that sometimes takes a long time to achieve. Nothing is worse than something looking contrived. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

“People are always saying to me, ‘You’ve got to make and sell more pieces.’ I tell them, ‘No, I don’t. I do what I do the way I want.’ You can’t just spit it out.” Creativity, apparently, can’t be rushed.

For Ennis, God is in the details. Her 20 years working as a dental assistant in her hometown in New York’s Hudson Valley near West Point, New York, prepared her for her current career. “I became a dental assistant because I was fascinated by detail work. People always asked me why didn’t I become a dentist or hygienist. Being a dental assistant allowed me to do a variety of different procedures, so I was never bored.” Plus, it enabled her to spend a sufficient amount of time attending to all-important details.

Ennis’ custom-made jewelry ranges from $150 to $500, depending on the intricacy of the piece. She willingly works with clients to create not just something to be slung around a neck, or slipped on a wrist, but to craft a work of art. “I start a necklace or bracelet with a focal point and build from there,” she said. “If people have an idea, I can do it.”

Ennis combines an array of diverse objects such as found objects, semiprecious stones, rattlesnake vertebrae, arrowheads, Native American beadwork, bits of mother-of-pearl and abalone, antique pottery shards and iconic features she creates herself, among other items. With a simpatico client, Ennis can fashion wearable artwork that personifies its wearer.

Another quality of her jewelry is tremblant, or trembling. “I hate anything static. When I make something, it’s important that it moves.”

Currently, Ennis is designing jewelry to wear during her Monday, May 25, wedding – a fey ivory and off-white tremblant necklace and an engagement ring that will be made in the Middle Eastern country of Oman, where Powell is currently employed.

She and Powell have been inseparable since their first encounter.
“Clayton is a native of Bandera County native,” Ennis said. “He was born here and raised at the Medina Children’s Home.”
Powell returned to the area after retiring as a gunnery sergeant from the United States Marine Corps.

Free spirit Ennis arrived in Bandera nine years ago. “I left New York 10 years ago with two cats and $2,500 in $20 bills in my glove compartment,” she explained. “When I got to Bandera I stopped at the OST for a cup of coffee and never left. I had never met people who were so nice. I still have a cup of coffee across the street every morning.”

Ennis, along with her trusted four-legged companion, Buck, works most weekdays in Bucking Pony Leather. “If you see the flag out and my white pickup parked beside the door, I’m open,” she said.

If so, stop in and chat a spell with one of Bandera’s outspoken characters.