This is a classic style bowl by Steve Lucas.  Each of his pieces is coil built, painted with bee-weed (black) and red clay slips.  The bowl has four dragonflies, which are extending down from the mouth of the bowl.  The red on the bowl is a very deep in color with just a bit of mica.  Steve said about the deep red:

“When I first learned to make pottery, the red slip painted in the designs was difficult to work with. It wouldn’t take heat very well and would scorch and turn black. The red was also difficult to polish. My aunt Dextra had a deep red color clay slip, and I decided to experiment with it. I took some of our base clay and added the red to it and it polished very well. I then decided to put some mica in there to get that sparkle. That’s where the new red came from, and Dextra liked how it turned out. I introduced them to that. It was nice that for my teacher, Dextra, I was able to share and teach her something.”

The bowl was traditionally fired and has slight color variations from the firing.  It is signed on the bottom with his name and an ear of corn (Corn Clan) and a Mudhead Katsina (Koyemsi).