This is a fully carved melon bowl by Autumn Borts-Medlock.  She is known for her often fancifully carved pottery.  This piece is entitled, “Daybreak” and has sixteen deeply carve melon ribs. Each comes to a point.  Over the top of them are two dragonflies carved into the clay.  They are each polished tan and red in coloration.  Separating them are large flowers that extend upward from the base of the bowl. Each flower is carved in multiple layers and they are textured.  When you look down into the bowl there are two layers of overlapping “ribs”, like the bowl itself is a flower that is opening up.  Simply beatuiful.  It is a striking piece in form, design, and color.  Autumn said she wanted to use the clay to give them a sense of motion in both colors and in her carving.  The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Autumn Borts-Medlock”.

“These pieces were inspired by watching the clouds at Puye Cliffs (the ancestral home of the Santa Clara people) and at the Pueblo. I wanted to carve into the clay to create multiple layers on each piece.  More importantly, I wanted to create a sense of movement.  I did this through both colorations of the clouds and layers of carving. The cloud colorations combine several colors of clay and are meant to appear as if they are moving and you can see through them.  The birds are captured in flight, amongst the clouds and the cliffs.”