This is an unusual collaborative piece by Christopher Youngblood and Jennifer Tafoya.  It is a jar that was made and carved by Chris.  It was polished by both of them and then traditionally fired.  The jar is carved with ten bees.  Each bee has brown polished wings and mica-slipped bodies in white, red, and brown.  Interestingly, all the colors on this piece were polished and applied before the piece was fired!  The clouds above the bees were slipped with white clay.  Around the bottom of the jar are eight flowers, each with eight petals, making 64 sections to polish!  Take a closer look at the branches connecting the flowers.  They are carved at a different level in the clay along with being etched by Jennifer before firing to look like wood.  One thing to consider is that there is always a lot more risk in the polishing and design work before firing, as you never know how it is going to turn out in the firing.  This jar was traditionally fired, so there are slight color variations to the surface.  After the firing, Jennifer etched the wings on the bees, but wanted to keep the unique brown coloration!  The inside is fully slipped with mica as well.  This is a creative vessel but striking in design and amazing in the complexity of levels of carving.  It is signed “Chris Youngblood” and “Jennifer Tafoya”.