Preston Duwyenie is known for his Hopi pottery which blends modern and traditional aspects of the art. This is the first time we have had this particular combination of designs from Preston.  The seedpot is tall and is made from white clay that he finds near Second Mesa at Hopi.  The body of the piece is fully polished.  Around the center is a band that is carved to have a shifting sand design.  What makes the sand area so fascinating is how he carves it so that it has a very natural appearance.  What works so well is that it flows around the entire surface, just as if the clay has been swept away.  The lid is silver and has a sand design on both sides from the cuttlefish bone casting. It is cut into the shape of the sun.  The polished and matte surfaces, along with the silver and shifting sand areas, give this piece a dramatic appearance!  The seedpot and the silver lid are signed on the bottom with Preston’s hallmark which is a woman carrying a child and his Hopi name, which means “carried in beauty”.

Why the shifting sand designs? Preston says he remembers watching a smooth pebble caught in sand being shifted by the wind, “there was beauty in its isolation within the sea of sand. It was like an island.  The endless sands of time, and the fact that people, too are tossed about by the wind. There is always rippling in our lives”.