Melony Gutierrez

MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE:
The making of Santa Clara Pueblo traditional pottery is a long strenuous process that has been passed down from many generations. It can take six months to a year or longer to create a piece of pottery. Our earth clay and white sand our gathered from Santa Clara Mountains. We then sift the clays through window screens to get the rock debris out. We then let nature take its course to dry what we gathered and sifted. This could take over a month to do. Once the clay is the right consistency we lay a tarp on our kitchen floor and mix together by stepping on it. We then use the coiling method to make the pots. The pottery is hand polished with a stone. We gather wood chips, slabs, and horse manure from our area and that is what we use to fire our pottery. Once fired we then etch the pottery and inlay a stone.