(505) 989-7062 Wind River Pottery Artist Bios: I - P
Joe and Sandra Lewis
Acoma husband-and-wife artists Joe and Sandra Lewis have been making pottery for over 20 years. They are known for their polychromatic geometric designs and their work is usually etched and painted in bright blue or turquoise colors that contrast beautifully with the red clay of the pot. They sign their pieces: JS Lewis.
Mira Lukee
Mira Lukee was born in 1959 and is of Acoma and Zuni heritage, and she began making pottery at the age of 22. She currently lives in the Acoma pueblo. Much of her painting technique was inspired by her mother and sister in-law.
Manuel Martinez
Born in 1963 in Acoma, Manuel was taught in the traditional art of Acoma pottery by Thresa Lukee. His work includes ceramic polychrome jars and bowls.
Maria Martinez
Maria Montoya Martinez (1887, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico – July 20, 1980, San Ildefonso Pueblo) was a Native American artist who created internationally renowned pottery. Hailing from the San Ildefonso Pueblo, she learned pottery skills from her aunt at a young age.
Martinez, her husband Julian, and other family members utilized traditional Pueblo pottery styles and techniques to create pieces which reflect the Pueblo people’s legacy of fine artwork and crafts. Traditional pottery-making techniques were being lost, but Martinez and her family experimented with different techniques and helped preserve their cultural art.
Fannie Nampeyo
Fannie Nampeyo is the youngest of three daughters of the famous Old Lady Nampeyo of Hano, the grand matriarch of Hopi pottery. Fannie inherited her mother’s role as the matriarch of the Corn Clan, a very important and time-consuming ceremonial position.
Fannie began making pottery in her early 20s, and was among the most skilled potters of her generation. Her signature design was the migration, or bird wing design, which was originally revived by her mother.
Fannie received the First Place Blue Ribbon in 1961 at the Museum of Northern Arizona’s Hopi Craftsman Exhibition. Fannie’s pottery can be found in museums around the world to include the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art.
Tonita Nampeyo
Tonita Nampeyo was born in 1934 in the Tewa Village and learned her craft from her mother and her grandmother. Tonita's favorite designs include migration, rain, and clouds, and she has won multiple awards for excellence in her pottery for tradition, form, and design.
Eunice Navasie
Eunice Navasie (Hopi Pueblo, Sichomovi village, First Mesa) was a sister-in-law of Joy Navasie “Frogwoman” and Pauline Setalla,
Eunice learned pottery from her mother, Agnes, and would go on to make pottery for nearly 50 years. She worked in black and red on white, as well as black and red on buff or yellow ware, in the form of jars, bowls, and wedding vases. She was well known for her artwork and painting designs.
In 1969, Eunice participated in an exhibition at the Gallup Ceremonial in New Mexico, where she received 1st Place for a wedding vase.
Eunice had three daughters: Dawn Navasie (b. 1961), Dolly Joe “White Snow” Navasie (b. 1964), and Fawn Garcia Navasie, formerly known as “Little Fawn” (b. 1959). They learned to make pottery by working with their mother.