Holt, Lisa & Harlan Reano – Large Storage Jar Flower, Roses, and Butterflies (2023)

11.5"w x 12.75"h

$ 5,800.00

This is a complex large storage jar by Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano.  They make an amazing team, working to create innovative pottery using traditional techniques.  Lisa makes the pottery and it is painted by Harlan.  This jar has a round storage jar shape with an elongated neck.  There is a skill to making a storage jar shape to achieve such a roundness of form along with the amount of volume it takes up for painting.  The neck has interlocking wild spinach plant designs.  The same design is repeated at the base.  However, it is the center this is just extraordinary.  There are two large flower medallions. Note the fine lines and complexity of the painting!  Separating the two medallions are roses and butterflies with intertwined vines.  The butterflies are more realistic in style. The roses are always an important design for Lisa, as her mother (Inez Ortiz) was named “Wild Rose” and these are always a reminder of her exceptional pottery.   Just step back and look at the photos of this piece.  The fluid designs and the entire surface being painted make for an amazing piece of art!  Wild spinach is the plant used to paint black on pottery.  The red is an additional clay slip.  It is exciting to see a piece with this amount of dynamic artistry.  The materials are all traditional as the red and cream are both native clays while the black is wild spinach (a plant). The jar is traditionally fired outdoors.  It is signed on the bottom, “Lisa Holt & Harlan Reano 2023”.   Interestingly, I judged their pottery the first year they entered at Santa Fe Indian Market and it has been exciting to watch them evolve in shapes and designs over the years.