This is a classic water jar by Robert Patricio.  It is has a high shoulder and a short neck.  The design has a circular medallion on one side.  That medallion represents the cornfields around Acoma Pueblo. The lines are the rains over the fields.  As the jar is turned, there are old-style clouds with elongated old-style lightning designs.  In tan clay, there are rain designs.  The jar is intricately painted and the open spaces highlight the visual movement of the various designs on the surface.  The jar is made from traditional Acoma clay and then painted with bee-weed (black) and two different red clay slips. 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 continuing 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