Tafoya, LuAnn – Red Bowl with with Clouds and Mountains Designs

8.75"w x 6.5"h

$ 2,400.00

The is a new bowl from LuAnn Tafoya.  She is a daughter of Margaret Tafoya and learned to make large vessels from her mother.  This bowl is coil built and very round in shape.  The central band of the bowl is fully carved with three panels of design.  Each panel is different.  The bowl tells the story of the clouds coming in over the mountains and it leaving the rain.  The carving is deep and even and the bowl is highly polished red.  In the recessed (carved away) areas, there is a cream-colored clay slip that is applied before the piece is fired.  The last photo shows the clay which is used to fill in the background areas.  The pottery of LuAnn Tafoya is an important continuation of the traditions of her family and the pueblo.  It 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