Dolores Curran creates intricately incised and painted pottery.  She was inspired to create these red polychrome incised and painted by her husband, Alvin Curran.  He was known for his incised San Juan style pottery in the 1990’s.  This piece is in the shape of a taller storage jar.  It is a shape that creates a lot of surface area for design.  Around the body of the piece the jar is matte and incised with three thunderbirds and three different cloud designs.  Each of the thunderbirds is different. The designs are incised or cut into the clay before firing.  All the colors (white, red, mica) are applied before firing as well.  The base of the jar is polished red and painted with a raincloud design.  The rim is also polished red and painted with an avanyu and prayer feathers. The painted areas a classic style for Dolores and amazingly are painted up to five times.  The first time to outline the design, then outline again, then fill in the outline and again to deepen the cream coloration. How one can paint over the same area so many times and have such precision is quite extraordinary! The jar is amazingly complex in design for its size!  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Dolores Curran”.