Borts-Medlock, Autumn – “Inspiration” Open Bowl with Birds and Clouds

"6"long x 4"w x 3.5"h

$ 2,200.00

Autumn Borts-Medlock is known for her often fancifully carved pottery.  This piece is entitled, “Inspiration”.  This open bowl is fully carved on the outside and painted on the inside. The outside has four birds carved among the clouds. The birds are polished tan and deeply carved into the clay.  Surrounding them are carved clouds,  Note how the clouds are carved at various levels!  Autumn used a micaceous black/gray clay slip for the background area where it is carved away. The coloration almost looks like the sky seen through the clouds!  The inside of the bowl is painted with a red clay slip.  There are two birds on the inside of the bowl. The clouds are painted with white and cream-colored clay slips to give them more color variation.  Autumn said she wanted to use the clay to give them a sense of motion in both color and in her carving.  The bowl 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.”