This is a traditional water jar by Tammy Garcia.  The jar is carved on numerous levels with contrasting polished and matte surfaces.  The piece is entitled, “The Beauty Within”.  The jar has plant designs around the neck.  There are two bands that extend from the rim to the base with carved mountain lion tracks and flowers.  The jar has a sharp shoulder and there are clouds carved into the edge of the shoulder.  On each side of the jar, there is a mountain lion and a flower.  One of the mountain lions has an inset piece of turquoise (inset after the firing), which gives this piece it’s name.  Why mountain lions?  Tammy said:

“I was gifted a mountain lion pendant made of sterling silver.  When I’m making pottery I think about shapes and also the design. Animals have a symbolic place in storytelling, it’s these stories that inspire me.”

Take a look at the side with the large flower, and from the center of the flower, there are four layers of carving on this jar!  The flowers are carved with a “pillow-like” relief that makes one feel as if they can be removed or peeled away.  The jar combines highly polished surfaces with layered accents of matte red.  There are additional matte areas that are the natural color of the clay and contrast against the carved designs and there is even a tiny bit of stippling at the rim. The contrast of the polished and matte areas is striking on this jar!  Overall, the jar has layers of design and depth with polished, matte, and stippled areas.  Tammy says of her current work:

“I am inspired by the forms and designs of historical Pueblo pottery.  When making pottery, there is intentional placement of every coil.  Once I have a design in mind I’ll make proportions on graph paper.  Clouds on the shoulder will look scalloped after I have them carved.  When the clay is dry I send then polish with a smooth stone over a clay slip.”

Each of Tammy’s pieces tells a story about family, culture, tradition, and personal creativity.  The jar was fired red and is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Tammy Garcia”.

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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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