LuAnn Tafoya is a daughter of Margaret Tafoya and is known for her large, highly polished pottery.  This is a smaller piece by Luann.  It is coil-built, carved, and stone-polished. The bowl has rain, cloud, and lightning designs deeply carved into the clay. The piece is highly polished and traditionally fired.  I like how you can still see the smoke clouds from the firing on the bottom of the bowl!   The coloration is beautiful and the shape of his piece is a great example of her skill, creativity, and commitment to traditional Santa Clara pottery.  The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “LuAnn Tafoya”.

“When I was twelve, I remember one Saturday morning my mom said, “We are going to polish today.” I looked at her, and I said, “Polish today? I’ve never polished a pot.” She put up a table, and I sat on one side and she sat on the other side. She started putting the clay slip on some small pieces. As soon as it was ready for me to polish, she would hand me the small pot. She kept putting the slip onto six small bowls. It was like a rotation of working on it. After she put the slip on then I would start polishing, so we keep on going. That’s where I remember starting to work on the pots.”  LuAnn Tafoya, Spoken Through Clay