Introducing Queen of the Rodeo
- Fernando Serrano
- Jun 17
- 3 min read
video credit: Daniela Dawson
There’s a song by Orville Peck called “Queen of the Rodeo.” It’s about chasing something you love - even when it’s hard, even when it doesn’t pay out the way you hoped. It’s about the act of pursuit itself as a kind of dignity.
That’s where the name comes from. And honestly, that’s what the brand is.
I’m Fernando - a queer Mexican-American artist from Naco, Sonora, a small border town split down the middle by a wall. Growing up binational meant growing up in-between: two languages, two countries, two ways of being in the world, and a lot of years trying to reconcile them.
photo credit: Lucia Wallace
Why I Started
Queen of the Rodeo started as an act of reclamation. I went to study traditional metalsmithing at Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende in 2021 because it felt urgent - to learn a skill that mass production is slowly erasing, to return to a heritage that had always been mine but that I'd never fully claimed. I apprenticed under Nancy Daniels, a master metalsmith whose work has shown at the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Museum of Art - and who, more importantly, was the first person to see my artistic potential before I could see it myself. She recognized something in me, invited me into her studio, and that changed everything. QOTR exists because of that recognition.
I also needed something that was fully mine. I do a lot of institutional and community work - running exhibitions, coordinating programs, supporting other artists. That work is meaningful and I love it. But QOTR is the place where I answer only to myself and to the craft.
And from the beginning I wanted to make things that were genuinely beautiful and genuinely accessible. Handcrafted items by artisans are the real luxury in life - but luxury shouldn’t mean only for some people. Every piece is ethically sourced, made from recycled metals, and priced to be within reach. Art should be shared.
The studio is at Central School Project in Bisbee - a historic building that holds creative people and serious work at the same time. You can find QOTR in person at Allen's & Co Vintage on Subway Street in Bisbee Arizona, and online at shopqueenoftherodeo.com.
photo credit: Fernando Serrano
What I Make
Jewelry
photo credit: Fernando Serrano
All Queen of the Rodeo jewelry is designed and made by hand, drawing from my indigenous heritage and traditional metalsmithing techniques - with a personal edge that is unapologetically mine. You’ll find made-to-order staples you can come back to, and one-of-a-kind pieces that won’t be there twice. Worn by Orville Peck. Featured in the New York Times. Made from recycled metals, ethically sourced, priced to be accessible.
Fragrance
photo credit: Fernando Serrano
The High Desert has a smell. Anyone who has stood in the Sonoran desert after a monsoon rain knows exactly what I mean. The Monsoon Season fragrance collection tries to put that in a bottle. Ritual is creosote and copal - ceremony and earth. Desert Rain is citrus blossom and sage. Monsoon Swoon is palo santo, tobacco, and cedar. Boots is spearmint, charred woods, and patchouli - for those who dare to leave a mark. Each one is hand-poured in Bisbee.
Beauty
photo credit: Fernando Serrano
The Monsoon Season skincare line is built around one plant: creosote. Known to Native Americans as a medicine for centuries, and named by the Spanish “La Gobernadora” - the governess - because it seemed to rule over all the rest of the healing plants. It’s one of the most adaptable desert plants in the world. It belongs here, and so does this line. Creosote oil, roller, mask, hydrosol, salve, tallow balm, and body mist - all handcrafted, all rooted in place. The Monsoon Season Discovery Set is the best place to start.
There's a storm brewing, darling - and you're invited.
photo credit: Fernando Serrano
shopqueenoftherodeo.com | @shopqueenoftherodeo
I want ALL the things.. . 🥰