This is a spectacular large water jar by Robert Patricio.  This jar with a high shoulder and a short neck.  The jar is painted with bee-weed and different clay slips.  The jar is one of Robert’s largest sizes and it is fully painted!  Technically, at this size, it is always difficult to create large pieces and not have them crack during drying or firing.  The jar has eight rows of interlocking butterflies. Each butterfly wing connects to the next.  The idea is to create a sense of movement in the design across the jar.  Surrounding the wings are red and orange clay slips.  The piece is complex and colorful!  The base is painted with red clay.  It is signed on the bottom, “R.  M.  Patricio”.  The jar is an exciting extension of his artistry in clay and continues the amazing Acoma legacy.   

Robert said recently of his pottery:

““The pottery inspires me to keep going.  Keeping the tradition alive in making pottery, that’s how we were brought up.  Our ancestors started making pottery.  It’s amazing what comes of a piece of clay. When you come to Acoma it’s peacuful and quite.  When you look a piece of pottery, you see the same peacefulness.”   Robert Patricio, 2020