KEEPING A TRADITION ALIVE

PUEBLO POTS

CERAMICS I

clay, sawdust firing, metallic rubbing compounds, embellishments

I have been studying Native American Arts & Crafts since junior college in the late 1970's.

I collect it, have taken numerous classes taught by Native Americans, 

and have thoroughly enjoyed teaching their traditional techniques

and sharing them with my kiddos. 

Here we see junior Richard Montes working on his Pueblo Pot after school

with my sweet little 7th graders completely absorbed and transfixed on his crafting.

Bombarding him with numerous questions,

Richard is patiently teaching them as he builds his pot.

This scene is why I don't want to retire.

Passing on what I know to a much younger generation who hopefully pass it on to others.

Creating wonderful memories that will stay in their hearts 

so they fondly remember their years at Whitney High in room 18.

Damn I love my job!

We begin with junior Lina Kim and her simply shaped pot.

But what makes it come alive 

is her gently curved diagonal stringing of beads with waxed linen thread,

and the lovely markings left by the sawdust firing.

It's so much fun to see how the students embellished these pots.

Each one is so unique and lovely.

The two above were made by senior Mary Esteban and junior Angela Mak.

Now check out the breathtaking marks left on this next piece from the firing

 by senior Michelle Hwang.

We all loved how she wrapped her strong diagonals strung with beautiful beads.

Here we have the work of juniors Michelle Son and Dustine Ansiboy.

Dustine chose to rub the metallic compounds on her piece before adding her embellishments.

What's very powerful to see on Michelle's piece 

is the high scheen resulting from the burnishing of the clay's surface with a smooth rock

as the clay dries from leatherhard to bone dry..

And last the piece de resistance by Richard the patient teacher above.

This was an extremely difficult form that Richard worked to

which required him to put in extra time after school and at lunchtime.

And not all our sawdust firings turn out this remarkable.

My assistant Alyssa experimented last year with all kinds of different resists.

I think we are seeing here how rock salt reacted in the firing to the clay.

We couldn't have asked for a more exquisite result and placement.

And the embellishments that Richard added are a perfect compliment to his wedding vase.

I believe he told me he was gifting this piece to his parents on their wedding anniversary.

Perfect!

WHAT'S COOKING IN YOUR FIRE?

PUEBLO POTS W/ EMBBELLISHMENTS

CERAMICS I

clay, sawdust firing & embellishments

I'm always sharing with you the student's favorite projects,

well this is one of mine.

I've been teaching the Pueblo Pottery technique off and on since the mid 1980's.

I saw it first hand when I traveled thru small pottery villages in Mexico

as a college student in the late 1970's,

not only the making of it but the primitive firing techniques as well.

I began collecting pieces to teach with and hope to one day own a Maria Martinez pot

from our own Southwest.

I've watched videos of Maria working and firing 

so I can teach this in an authentic way. 

My favorite student piece from last school year was this one by sophomore Olivia Kruger.

The way the flames and carbon licked and embedded into her pot is so sensory.

The ragged lip is sensational as well,

making it really feel from the earth.

And the clay beads she made to embellish with along the side walls is the perfect finishing touch.

Bravo Olivia!

These next two cuties were made by senior Marjorie Balaoro.

She enjoyed the process so much that she did a second one.

The blue beads against the dark backgroud really make the pieces pop!

If you are noticing a slight sheen to these pieces it's because after they come out of the ash,

we wash them off and then apply a thick layer of a glue and water mixture to seal them.

It really brings the surface coating alive.

Now check out this masterpiece by senior Eunice Shim.

Love, love love all that she embellished with.

Braiding multiple waxed linens together,

finding natural jute and braiding it with yarns,

and then the ultimate,

using the dried flowers I save along the top edge.

Brilliant critical thinking Eunice!

I miss you.

And oh my,

what do we have here?

Two gorgeous little works by good friends,

juniors Ylia Madayag & Vincent Nguyen.

Both so lovely and delicate feeling.

I was lucky enough that Ylia decided to sell hers at Open House

 so I snatched it up to teach with this year.

I love to show students outstanding examples of their peers works.

Oh boy,

check out this cool one by junior Sarah Oh.

Loved the irregular off-balance lip and how she scalloped it.

And look at all the fun embellishing she wove and stitched on as well.

We end with this sweet one by senior Ashley Iseri.

Ashley,

I'm so sorry it's a bit blurry.

But it was defiantly a must include work for next years students to inspire them with.

So neat how she thought to hang it instead of stand it.

See how she incorporated those little coil handles on either side

 because she knew right from the get go that she wanted to hang it.

Remarkable pieces all of you.

Thank you always for your incredible effort that you bring to the table everyday.

ONE MORE PUEBLO POT

PUEBLO POT

CERAMICS I

sawdust fired clay & embellishments

I was going back thru my photos to make sure certain things had been posted

and ran across this very sweet little pot.

It should have been included in the post from last week.

And what's even worst is I can't remember who made it.

But I'm sure one of my students will tell me.

I really like how the shells were used in this piece

because they brings rhythm and movement to the design

plus a touch of color.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF COIL POT

PUEBLO POTTERY

CERAMICS I

sawdust fired clay & embellishments

One of my favorite techniques is working on a Poki,

a mini potter's wheel to build a coil pot similar to the ones made at the San Ildefonso Pueblo.

We go one step further and embellish them with beads, 

feathers,

 buttons, 

waxed linens,

 and all sorts of other goodies.

A Poki is a small shallow pinch bowl 

that I premake for the kids and bisque fire before they use them.

They place a pad of clay inside this bowl then score coils to the rim of the clay,

and spin the poki as they work the coil thinner and higher.

The more coils they add the higher and larger the pot becomes.

When they are leatherhard we burnish the outside with a smooth rock,

just like the Pueblo Indians do to make the pot shiney. 

After bisque and sawdust firing we embellish.

This sweet little piece was made by senior Arciana Vancheswaran.

The jade beads compliment the pot perfectly.

This next one by senior Jonathan Hsu was itsy bitsy with these ginormous buttons.

The contrast was so much fun for the eye.

I also like how he used the beading string as design on the inside.

And this last gorgeous form by junior Annie Oh really shows off the amazing markings 

that can happen in a sawdust firing.

We never know what we will get.

Always a surprise.

Also love the holes she pierced thru the clay walls.

Annie attempted to embellish it

 but we decided against it because the pot was so powerful that it stood on it's own.

Nothing more necessary.

The contours are incredible,

I just adore this piece!

WHATCHA GOT HANGING AROUND YOUR NECK?

PUEBLO POTS

CERAMICS I

clay, sawdust firing, metallic rubbing compounds & embellishments

This is a Native American coil pot technique that I learned by studying the works of

 famous Native American Potter Maria Martinez.

The kids love the technique,

and their pieces are much admired by our faculty and staff.

Here we have proud young 8th grader Eugene Ho who is sporting his pot around his neck.

Adorable, right??

Am I lucky or what to teach at this wonderful school with these sweet kids!!

They crack me up  LOL

Another hanging beauty was done by junior Christina Hur. 

I think it's really cool how she put the beads at the juncture between pot and rope,

and then carried them up the hanging device.

One of my personal favorites was this one above by senior Payal Morari.

I just adore the asymmetry of it all,

with it's simple strung beads and organic folds.

So incredible beautiful!

Just like it's maker  xoxoxox

And what a clever embellishment on this one,

a suspended spider's web.

Who are you????

Ahhh, 8th grader Lindsey Chang.

I was very fortunate this year to have so many talented 8th graders take my classes,

and how seamlessly they melded with the older kids.

most of them anyway, ha ha ha

This sweet one above was created by junior Klyne Madayag.

Notice the impeccable craftsmanship she uses to string the beads with.

This very pretty feather bowl was done by senior Ankita Batra.

Notice the lovely colorways she has rubbed onto both the inside and outside of the piece.

And then she brings the inside color out with her beads.

And what an interesting finish on the top of this work by senior Asha Bhakta,

and note the gorgeous embellishments she has added to compliment it so perfectly.

A great piece to end with was made by senior Laarnie Barcelon.

Her use of embellishments takes this way beyond my wildest dreams,

and makes me one happy teacher.

Following in the Footsteps of Maria Martinez

PUEBLO POTTERY

CERAMICS I

clay, sawdust firing, embellishments

I've always been a big fan of Native American Arts and Crafts and have taken many workshops to learn several of the craft techniques so that I can share them with my students.

One of my favorites is Pueblo Pottery.

The kids went all out this year with the embellishments.

Two of my favorites this year where done by seniors Neha Jain (above) and Cindy Ryoo (below).

Both pieces are exquisite. 

Senior Jocelyn Kim, junior Kyung Yi, and senior Anne Allan were the creators of this next grouping of three.

I wish I had thought to have taken a side view of Anne's.

She drew pix on with india ink, plus it would have shown better her raised feet on the bottom.

This next one by senior Priya Sheth was stunning with her metallic rubbings, her shards of glass and bead embellishments.

Also, check out the nails she embedded along the rim, and how she used them to tie on her waxed linen thread.

So cool!

This last grouping by seniors Minette Tsang, Saarika Bhakta, and junior Sameera Ahmad were really lovely as well.

I really liked how Saarika (center) planned her pierced windows then used them to house her embellishments.

Clever girl!

Coil Pots- Native American Style

I haven't done this assignment since the late 80's with my Ceramics I kids, but I brought it back this year, and  so glad I did.  The kids enjoyed the project and we had many really nice results.  Years ago I made a full class set (over 35) of these fairly small clay pinch pot bowls in various sizes called pokies (not sure of the spelling anymore).  So each child picks one that looks the most interesting to them and builds their coil pot inside it.   They use the pokie as a support, and as they build upward they use it as a wheel head to turn their work as they go.  It's like a potter's wheel head or a banding wheel.  When I made these pokies, I bisqued then sawdust fired them so that the clay will pop out when they are done with their pot.

This top pot was one of my favorites and was made by sophomore Ann Munoz.  I love the metallic compounds that she rubbed over the sawdust fired finish, and of course the stitching along the top edge.  

As the students were building their pots I asked them to be thinking about what they wanted to embellish with at a later date.  So, did they need to poke holes in the walls to dangle things from, or to weave fibers thru?

These next 2 above were done by seniors Alice Cho and Priya Shah.  See how Priya punctured holes around her rim but then she didn't use them to dangle anything from, instead they work as surface design.  She definitely took the easy way out, but guess what, it works  :)

Below senior Michael Marin alternated buttons and beads for a really good look along the side of his pot.  And look also at the beautiful sawdust markings on the pot.  Lovely.  You never know what you are going to get when you sawdust, but usually it's always a nice surprise.

Once again, this assignment was done during the end of the school year so they had to scavenge thru the trinkets left in the classroom, or bring in their own.  I feel the kids came up with some very creative solutions.

I bisque and sawdust fired their pots then they had a choice as to their finish.  They could brush on watered down glue to seal them and give them a slight sheen, or they could rub them with metallic finishes.  But they all had to embellish.

Above we have seniors Andy Hwang and Sagar Shah.  I was really impressed with the shape Andy was able to achieve in this coil technique.  And I like how Sagar finished his piece off with metallics, stitching and buttons.

Below senior Shavonna Walker did some really cool embellishing with waxed linen, braiding and beads.

Junior Fernando Jacinto went all out on his bowl above.  Great use of color, and other findings from my goodie boxes.  I also really like the uneven edge treatment.  It makes the piece look more organic.  Great job Fernie!  

Another favorite of mine was completed by sophomore Tahnee Thantrong below.   Tahnee is a fabulous designer and I'm really looking forward to working with her again next year.  Notice how she necked the shoulder area in and squared it off?  And then added those sweet handles?  With the perfect embellishment? Brilliant!!!

And look at this beauty by senior Lorena Morales.  Love the incised decoration inside, and then how cool the sawdust finish looks as well.

Senior Michelle Lee is next with this fun feather piece, a bit of wire, waxed linen and beads.

And lastly, this very contemporary looking sculpture by junior Rita Labib.  Rita chose the largest pokie, and instead of doing a typical ending, used some ripping, and manipulating of her rim to get a really gorgeous looking piece.  Rita choose to put her embellishment in before the firings.  She pushed nails right into the clay when it was still plastic for a great look.  

Rita has also inspired me for next school year.   I think I'm going to require the kids to come up with an asymmetrical ending, so that no one ends up with a traditional looking piece.  And look at how lucky she got with the sawdust finish, fabulous markings.