The rolling hills of Sonoita’s grasslands is the home of John Igini and the Bar IG Alpaca Ranch.

John’s great appreciation for Southwestern lifestyle, indigenous culture and art, developed over his 30 years as a resident of Arizona, first as a Native American art collector and then as an innovator of textile art by introducing a medium never before used by Navajo weavers.

He knew that the Andean indigenous weavers of South America have been using the fleece of their native alpacas for thousands of years, producing the finest textiles, and he thought that if the Navajo weavers could just work with this wonderful fiber, they could create beautiful, wearable textiles, distinct from the rugs woven with Churro sheep’s wool.

Motivated by his new inspiration, the Chicago-born Igini found himself wearing a rancher’s hat, riding a tractor and caring for his alpaca herd. Currently, he has 27 alpacas which yield approximately 100 pounds of fleece annually, milled in Ruidoso, New Mexico and expertly dyed in California using mostly organic products such as Cochineal, walnut, indigo, and other aniline dyes.

Once the fleece is ready, John sets aside his rancher’s hat and becomes the art designer with sensitivity, respect and passion for this art form. Each piece is commissioned according to his designs, dimensions and colors, to be executed by the skillful hands of the most experienced Navajo weavers capable of weaving museum-quality textiles with fine non-traditional fibers. The end result is a blanket or shawl unlike anything seen in Navajo weavings in terms of texture and cashmere-like softness.

Loom weaving is time-consuming work with pieces taking four to nine months to complete. A bedspread may take nine months to one year. Furthermore this is becoming a lost art as the number of Navajo weavers is diminishing because the younger generations are not continuing the tradition.

Registry #05-735
31" X 35"
$3,500

Our Alpacas