Marlena Tom — Diné Silversmith

Navajo. Her own brand, her own storefront — and a place in the T.Skies room.

Where a lot of makers wait on galleries, Marlena Tom built her own shop. She's run "Navajo Jewelry Designer Marlena Tom" as an independent, self-branded storefront since 2013 — her own name over the door, direct to the people who wear her work. She's part of the T.Skies room, too: a hand-stamped Royston cuff of hers sold on a Friday show, and when Ronald Tom — from her own Mariano Lake community — takes the guest chair, she turns up in the chat and gets greeted by name. We'll be honest about the record: outside our own footage and her storefront, the paper trail is thin, so this page leans on what we can see rather than a biography we don't have.

The Work

What we've handled and shown is a hand-stamped cuff set with Royston turquoise, finished with silver flanks — the applied side-elements that frame a center stone, a construction you'll see across good Diné cuffs. Her stone runs to Royston and Kingman turquoise, lapis, and a black onyx she likes on a blossom ring. It's traditional Navajo stampwork, sold under her own name.

In Motion

You can see her Royston cuff on a T.Skies Friday show, and she appears in the community chat during Ronald Tom's guest-artist night.