Charles Supplee was born in 1959. His mother was Hopi and his father was French. They lived on the Navajo reservation where his father was a schoolteacher. He learned silversmithing from his father who did it as a hobby. Charles’s work brought him to the attention of Pierre Touraine. In the 1980’s Pierre took him on for two years as an apprentice and this is where he learned a variety of techniques. Charles is noted for his innovative contemporary jewelry with simplicity and elegance. His work had a great influence on his younger brother, Don Supplee, who is also a noted jeweler. Charles also does painting, photography, sculptures and bronzes. His talent is endless. He is featured in Beyond Tradition by Jerry and Lois Jacka, Southwestern Indian Jewelry by Dexter Cirillo, Art of the Hopi by Jerry and Lois Jacka, and North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment by Lois Dubin. Charles currently has pieces in the exhibit Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, 1 2002, at the American Craft Museum in New York City, and in the exhibit Jewels Of The Southwest 2002, at the Museum of Arts and Culture in New Mexico.
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