This is a classic water jar by Robert Patricio.  It is a classic Acoma water jar shape with a high shoulder and a short neck.  The design has rain clouds around the neck.  Across the center are two larger bands of rainbows. Note how they are connected with lines (rain).  It’s meant to look as if you are seeing the rainbow through a rainstorm.  The two rows are a “double rainbow” and each one is a different size.  There is more rain near the base, falling to the earth.  I like the idea that the way Robert painted the rainbows is as if they are shimmering in the rain.  All the colors and fine-lines give the jar a very complex appearance.  The darker red for the base is meant to represent the sunset and sunrise. 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