Making the Pots
Every step in the process of making the pots is done completely by hand, beginning with digging the natural clay out of the mountainside at Jemez Pueblo. The clay is ground to a fine powder, carefully sifted to remove small pebbles, and mixed carefully to achieve a precise combination of flexibility and strength.
The pots are formed using traditional hand coiling or pinching methods. No potter's wheel is used; shaping is done strictly by hand, as it's been done for centuries, using techniques that have been passed from one generation to the next. Each piece is then carved, and set to dry. After several days of drying it is sanded smooth in preparation for receiving the pigment. Natural pigments are made by crushing specific stones collected at Jemez— different stones yield the different colors of warm buff, red, green, and black. (Black flowers are an acrylic paint.)
The pot is then meticulously polished with a small, hard stone to create a smooth finish with a rich luster. The pots are fired outdoors in small batches using a cedar chip fire, in a delicate process that requires great skill to balance the heat. Every piece produced in this way is unique—the product of centuries of tradition, combined with decades of experience!
The pots are formed using traditional hand coiling or pinching methods. No potter's wheel is used; shaping is done strictly by hand, as it's been done for centuries, using techniques that have been passed from one generation to the next. Each piece is then carved, and set to dry. After several days of drying it is sanded smooth in preparation for receiving the pigment. Natural pigments are made by crushing specific stones collected at Jemez— different stones yield the different colors of warm buff, red, green, and black. (Black flowers are an acrylic paint.)
The pot is then meticulously polished with a small, hard stone to create a smooth finish with a rich luster. The pots are fired outdoors in small batches using a cedar chip fire, in a delicate process that requires great skill to balance the heat. Every piece produced in this way is unique—the product of centuries of tradition, combined with decades of experience!