This is a striking long-neck water jar by Debbie Clashin.  She is a cousin of noted potter Mark Tahbo and a descendant of Grace Chapella.  Debbie has quickly become well known for her large-sized traditional Hopi-Tewa pottery. The jar is made from the traditional Hopi red clay, which few potters use today.  It is always more difficult to polish and fire, however, as seen on this jar, the results can be stunning. The jar has four interlocking butterflies with large wings and painted with bee-weed (black), a dark red clay slip, and white clay outlines. The painting is precise and the use of white clay adds strong definition to the complex designs.  It also adds to the difficulty as it is time-consuming to paint the thin lines and the white clay has to be cleaned to use in the right way for it to adhere correctly to the surface.  The jar was traditionally fired and it has a rich coloration.   It is signed on the bottom “Debbie Clashin” and a pipe for his “Tobacco Clan”.  Congrats to Debbie for taking on such a series of complicated styles and achieving such an exceptional result!