Jared Tso is one of the rising stars of Native pottery.  He is a grandson of potter Faye Tso and his pottery is exceptionally refined in technique and traditional in style.  Each piece is coil-built from traditional native Navajo clay and traditionally fired.  This piece is one of a series that are slipped with white clay instead of red.  The jar is stone polished with a swirl from the rim to the base.  Jared has been working on some larger forms that are dramatic in appearance with the coloration of the clay and the firing.  There are raised extrusions around the neck of the jar.  Look closely and you will see how the surface is stone polished at an angle.  While the tall shape is elegant, it is the firing that is stunning as the piece has a coloration that goes from black to white.  The interior of the jar was slipped with pinon pitch in a more traditional manner, after the firing.  It is exciting to see an artist find inspiration in the historic work, and, using the same clays, create something so dynamic.  Vessels such as this find strength in their traditional techniques yet are refined in a modernistic manner.  The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Jared Tso”.  The last photo is one that Jared took of the jar.  With the color of the sky and the snow in the distance, it’s as stunning as the jar is in person!

THE CONFLUENCE OF TRADITION AND MODERNITY: The Ceramic Art of Jared Tso