This is a very intricately carved jar by Tammy Garica.  The piece is entitled “Uplifted”.  The jar is a classic shape with a round shoulder and short neck.  The neck of the jar is carved with three butterflies and five flowers.  The center of each butterfly is also a flower!  Below the shoulder there are two large heartline bears.  The are surrounded by swirling birds and plant designs.   There is a raised band with three larger flowers.  The shoulder of the jar (and near the base) also have rounded flower petals!  The jar combines both polished, matte, and stippled areas.  Each section has carving at various levels to create dimensionality and slight shadows.  The number of polished and carved sections is overwhelming in this jar.  Overall, there are at least four levels of carving on the jar as he has carved away to create deeper and deeper sections.  The jar combines matte, polished, and stippled areas on the surface.  The stippling is a time-consuming process that visually adds to the overall impact of the design. It is amazing how complex this jar is in terms of her carving.  The jar was fired red and is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Tammy Garcia”.

Tammy 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 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 inspired by Pueblo's life, animals, insects, pueblo stories, or traditional images are traditional and contemporary.  Her works' 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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