This is a striking by Steve Lucas.  He is one of the leading Hopi-Tewa potters working today.  Each piece is coil built, stone polished, painted with native clay slips and bee-weed (black) and traditionally fired.  Steve has won “Best of Show” at Santa Fe Indian Market and his work remains some of the most refined and creative.  This bowl is round in shape and fully polished.  The design has various stylized katsina faces!  They are polished white, green, and brown.  Note the variety of them across the surface. The background area is stippled.  The bowl was traditionally fired which created the blushes on the surface.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “S. Lucas” and a mudhead (koyemsi) and an ear of corn (corn clan).

jar has two sharp shoulders. The base of the jar is polished red. The central band is painted with geometric designs. The top has spiraling Sikyatki birds, each with extended tail feathers. The designs on the jar are inspired in style by the work of his ancestor, Nampeyo of Hano.  Each bird is painted with, red, green, and brown clay slips, each of which is polished!  It takes more time to polish the slips after they are painted, but the result is also more dynamic as they reflect the light.  The base of the bowl is polished a deep red.  It is this deep red clay slip with just a bit of mica, for which Steve is famous.  He said of the 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.”  Steve Lucas, Spoken Through Clay

The numerous colors and the precision of the painting is striking.  The jar was traditionally fired which created the blushes on the surface.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “S. Lucas” and a mudhead (koyemsi) and an ear of corn (corn clan).  The jar has ribbons from the 2025 Gallup Ceremonials.

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Lucas, Steve (b. 1955)

Steve Lucas

Steve Lucas (b.1955) is a great-great-grandson of Nampeyo of Hano.  His grandmother was Rachel Nampeyo, and his great-grandmother was Annie Healing.  While Steve grew up around potters, he primarily learned the art from his aunt, Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo.  His pottery is amazingly thin-walled, and each piece has a dynamic use of form and design.  The pottery is coil-built, stone-polished, traditionally painted, and native-fired.  Steve uses traditional designs and often gives his own creative spin to the ancient imagery.  His pottery is signed with his name and the Mudhead symbol, or Koyemsi. This is reflective of his Hopi-Tewa clan.  Steve Lucas has won numerous awards for his pottery, including "Best of Show" at Santa Fe Indian Market. In addition, Steve is a featured artist in the book by the gallery owner, Charles S. King, 'Spoken Through Clay.'  We are pleased to carry Steve's work at our Scottsdale and Santa Fe locations. PLEASE NOTIFY ME OF NEW ADDITIONS FROM THIS ARTIST