Linda Tafoya-Sanchez is a granddaughter of noted potter Margaret Tafoya.  Linda is known for her carved pottery.  This is a classic melon bowl that is carved with 25 swirling ribs.  There are five sections of red polished ribs separated by single ribs slipped with black micaceous clay.  The red is deep in coloration and a strong contrast to the black. The ribs swirl from the rim to the base and follow the round shape of the bowl.  This is such a visually dynamic style from Linda.  It was traditionally fired and the coloration is pefect.  It is signed on the bottom, “Linda Tafoya-Sanchez”.

Linda has said about her pottery:

“I think about the legacy of pottery in my family. Sometimes I’m holding the stone in my hand and thinking, I wonder if grandma’s hands were the same size as mine. My dad’s hands were a lot bigger than mine but everybody used the same rock and it just seemed to fit comfortably in their hand.  You wonder how many pieces of pottery this rock has polished.  The clay is a really important part of making the pottery. Listening to family members talk about how they used to get clay with grandma and grandpa and how they would make it an all-day venture. You feel that family connection when you are digging the clay out of the earth. It ties you to your home. There’s no other place you are going to find that kind of clay. You think about how many years people have dug that clay out of the earth how many years Mother Earth has provided that clay for us.” Linda Tafoya-Sanchez, Spoken Through Clay