Linda Tafoya-Sanchez is a granddaughter of noted potter Margaret Tafoya and she is known for her carved pottery.  This is classic bowl carved with an avanyu encircling the piece. The Avanyu has a square head, much like the shape of the avanyu on pieces by her father, Lee Tafoya.  The body of the avanyu is complex with cloud and water designs.  The avanyu, and the top and bottom of the bowl, are all polished a deep red.  There is a tan polished band above and below the avanyu.  The bowl was traditionally fired and it is a striking coloration.  It is signed on the bottom, “Linda Tafoya Oyenque”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.

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