It is not often we have miniatures by Steve Lucas.  He has finished two of them and said he had them sitting around for years and finally finished them.  They are both charming in size and detail of design.  Each piece is coil-built, stone polished, painted with native clay slips and bee-weed (black), and traditionally fired.  This jar has a slight shoulder and a sloping side.  There is a hummingbird painted on each side.  They are each detailed in design and highlighted with polished red and brown clay slips.  It is a gem in design and size!   The piece was traditionally fired and has an elegant coloration from the firing.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “S. Lucas” and a mudhead (koyemsi) and an ear of corn (corn clan).  

“I think about the ancients. I used to hike out to Sikyatki a lot when I stayed out at my mom’s place and look at the pottery sherds. You could pick up a sherd, wipe it off, and the design would still be brilliant. I would be amazed at how well the painting had held up to all the weather over all those centuries. I would find some interesting designs, and I would put them on my pieces. Those ancients were good artists and are an inspiration to me.”  Steve Lucas, Spoken Through Clay