This is a creative new jar by Dolores Curran.  She continues to create intricately incised and painted pottery.  Her husband, Alvin Curran, inspired her to create these red polychrome incised and painted.  He was known for his incised San Juan-style pottery in the late 1990s.  This jar has a dragonfly lid. There is a flower on top of the lid and on the base.  There are four etched dragonflies on the lid as well.  When the lid is turned over, the bottom is textured to look like rock and there are two petroglyph-style dragonflies.  Dolores said she wanted to create the idea of “finding” the designs on the bottom and also a reflection of how long dragonflies have been used in Native art!  These also gave the jar its name, “Timeless Messengers”.  The jar itself has a polished rim and base with additional painted designs.  The neck of the jar has small incised flowers.  Around the sides are sections with dragonflies and flowers.  They are separated by complex rain designs.  The rain bands are both incised and just a bit more deeply carved for additional texture.  The base has additional incised dragonflies and a carved Prayer Feather.  Note how each section is different and highlighted with various clay slips in the incised areas, or painted red on tan.  The designs are incised or cut into the clay, and then painted with various clay slips.  They are complex and create a strong balance in the smaller designs.  All the colorations are from natural clay slips.  It is an extraordinary amount of time to create intricate pieces in design and use the various clay additions.   The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Dolores Curran”.