Leo Feeney bead necklace with a turquoise pendant and silver charms. The Kingman turquoise cabochon in the pendant is surrounded by smaller Sleeping Beauty turquoise, gaspeite, coral and spiney oyster stones. This 18” necklace has eight silver charms with various designs including two Peyote Bird charms.
Leo Feeney has been designing his southwest style jewelry for more than thirty-five years. He was first introduced to southwest style jewelry in Flagstaff, Arizona. The jewelry of the Zuni Pueblo also had a great influence on his style. He uses a mixture of semi-precious and precious stones to create his one of a kind artistic jewelry.
About the artist
Leo Feeney
Leo Feeney has been designing his southwest style jewelry for more than thirty-five years. He was first introduced to southwest style jewelry in Flagstaff, Arizona. The jewelry of the Zuni Pueblo had a great influence on his style. He uses a mixture of semi-precious and precious stones to create his one of a kind artistic jewelry.
The son of a Navy career father, Leo Feeney moved around the United States frequently–from Key West, Florida as a child, to Emmaus, Pennsylvania for high school graduation. After attending a local community college, a silversmith professor took a strong interest in Leo’s work and an apprenticeship was born. Over the years, Leo learned numerous silversmith techniques and began to hone his craft with contemporary jewelry styles.
In 1971, while visiting Havasupai in the Grand Canyon, Leo met his now wife, Emily, and relocated to her home town in Flagstaff, Arizona. This move inspired him to study different jewelry styles including the rich history of Native American design. It wasn’t long before he opened a store in a building owned by his father-in-law and began selling his unique Southwestern style jewelry. Greatly influenced by Zuni designs, Leo mixes precious and semi-precious stones to create his unique pieces. His signature cluster-style settings featuring intricate stone patterning is highly regarded in the jewelry community. Leo currently resides in Arizona with his family.
