Woman uses tiles for art

Jessica Bindi, a Pahrump newcomer, was also a newcomer to arts-and-craft fairs.

She'd never sold anything at an arts or crafts booth until this year's Fourth of July celebration in Petrack Park.

"I've never been to one of these before," she said a few moments after setting up her wares -- hand-painted scenes on terra cotta roofing tiles, as well as painted kachina dolls, representing ancestral spirits among the Hopi and Pueblo Indians of the Southwest.

"I've just sold to family and friends, and over the Internet."

She and her husband, Walter, moved to Pahrump in June from Surprise, Ariz., which is 45 miles from Phoenix.

Called "Rare Tiles by JB," her small company specializes in using roofing tiles as the canvas, which are intended to go on porches, decks and fences as opposed to going on a roof.

"I had one on every post in a block wall outside our home in Surprise," she said. When the Bindis moved, she left them there for the new owners.

"They are also light enough to be hung inside," she added.

The 19 painted tiles at her booth during the Independence Day celebration took her about two weeks to complete. She said almost all the tiles are one-of-a-kind, although a few of her favorites are hand-painted repeats of scenes she especially likes. They show such things as rural mailboxes, Southwest Indian icons, birds and wildlife. She sells them for between $35 and $40. Interested collectors can reach her through e-mail at at jbrare72@juno.

"I started painting in 1972," she said, "and I've never had a lesson. I just do it.

"I started out working in oils, but now I use acrylics. It is easier to work with and it dries faster."

Jessica and Walter Bindi were once in the restaurant business in San Jose. That's what got them interested in wine. And, it was as wine connoisseurs they came to Pahrump in the first place.

They'd heard about the Pahrump Winery and made a visit to taste the local vintage of Nevada's only winery.

"It impressed us so much," Walter Bindi said, "we came back. The second time, it looked better. The third time, we said, 'Let's do it.'"

Before moving to Pahrump, Jessica Bindi was an office manager for a window-blind manufacturer in Surprise. Before that, she was an office manager for the Teamsters in San Jose. Walter Bindi retired a few years ago.

In retirement, Jessica Bindi picked up the pace of her painting, especially the roofing tiles.

"She can't sit still," Walter said of his wife.

"I just can't retire," Jessica said. "I'm 73, and as long as I can do something productive, I'll do it."

In Pahrump and elsewhere, people will now be able to buy the results of that productivity.