Joseph Youngblood-Lugo is the youngest son of noted potter Nancy Youngblood and a great-grandson of Margret Tafoya.  He learned to make pottery from his mother, so his technical skills are exceptional.  Each piece is coil-built, carved, stone polished, and native-fired outdoors. This jar has a wide shoulder and an elongated neck.  It is deeply carved and highly polished. The jar has red polished yucca leaves next to black micaceous clouds. Around the shoulder of the jar are swirling carved waves.  The shape of the jar and the carved designs are meant to make it appear as if you are watching the plant grow during the brief monsoon season in the southwest summer.  The band around the shoulder of the jar is creative and fluid, a visual complement to the precision of the polished leaves.  The jar was traditionally fired.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Joseph Youngblood Lugo”.  Joseph continues to make creative and thoughtful works in clay.

“Our tradition is in the clay.  Traditional pottery is doing the process yourself, including digging the clay, respecting our ancestors, and thanking the earth for providing the clay for us.  The Pueblo pottery from a century ago is timeless and can remain an important source of inspiration in the future.” Joseph Lugo, “Future in Clay”, 2022