This is a highly detailed and creative jar by Tammy Garcia.  The jar is coil-built and carved on numerous levels. The jar has a round body and a short neck. The piece is entitled, “K’ha Po Owingeh”, which is the Tewa name for Santa Clara Pueblo.  The jar has a dragonfly on one side surrounded by flowers.  On the opposite side is a Pueblo woman with a water jar on her head and a large storage jar to the side.  She is also surrounded by carved flowers and is wearing a tiny carved dragonfly necklace.  Dragonflies have long been considered “prayer messengers”.  Tammy also carved the words “K’ha Po Owingeh” into the bottom section of the jar.  The jar is carved at numerous levels and note that it is carved with Tammy’s signature “pillow” effect she has created in the clay!  It is visually dramatic and makes each small carved area appear jewel-like in appearance.  Tammy has stippled surfaces of the clay, which is very time-consuming.  The stippling creates a contrast of shadows in place of just flat matte areas.  However, it can take days just to texture an entire piece this size and have them appear even across the surface.  As the piece is turned, there are so many layers of the jar that it is hard to see them all at once!  The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Tammy Garcia”.

ammy has won numerous awards for her pottery and has been the recipient of the New Mexico Governor’s Award.  It’s not surprising that with the intricate nature of her pottery, she makes only about ten pieces of pottery a year.  Yet each piece is unique and expands on her distinctive style and voice in the clay.  Tammy says of her new evolving art in clay:

“My love for jewelry also reveals itself in the clay.  I want to make each piece I make precious, jewel-like. My new “pillow effect” is really tapering.  It’s achieved in the carving process.  I do it so that the area surrounding the carved designs is higher and the edges are recessed.  It makes the carving more delicate but also less fragile.   I love detail.  When I’m carving a piece the smaller the carved line the more fragile.  Each layer is a fragile, delicate balance of one design on top of another. I want to be able to get more detail and create the optical illusion of even more layers from a distance.  I’ve been working to create even more detail in my work than ever before. “

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Garcia, Tammy (b. 1969)

Tammy Garcia

Tammy Garcia is undoubtedly one of the most renowned Pueblo potters.  She is the daughter of Linda Cain and sister to Autumn Borts-Medlock.  She is also Mary Cain's granddaughter, Christina Naranjo's great-granddaughter, and Sara Fina Tafoya's great-great-granddaughter.  Tammy learned to make pottery from her mother and continued the Pueblo traditions of using native clay as the foundation.  Her distinctive pottery bridges the gap between traditional and modern.  The intricacy and precision of her carving are attractions to her pottery and bronze art.  Tammy's pottery continues to evolve in new directions with each new idea. Amazingly, Tammy Garcia makes less than ten pieces a year.  This small number is a reflection of the time involved in each section.  The building, designing, carving, polishing, and firing are labor-intensive.  As a result of the time required, she never replicates a design or pot, which is part of her art's dynamic process. Tammy Garcia's distinctive forms and imagery create "stories" on the vessels.  Her designs are inspired by Pueblo's life, animals, insects, and pueblo stories, and traditional images are both traditional and contemporary.  Her work's surface is polished and carved, and there is always an outstanding balance of carved versus matte areas. Tammy's pottery is in permanent collections and museums worldwide, such as the Denver Art Museum, the Heard Museum, and the Autry Museum.  She has won multiple awards for pottery and, most recently, was the subject of a one-woman exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

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