Talking with the Clay

Book excerpt: "Galleries and shops across the United States are filled with American Indian art. Especially popular is the striking pottery handmade by the Pueblo Indians of the Southwest. Talking with the Clay tells the story of this pottery from the uniquely personal view of the potters themselves. Stephen Trimble interviewed sixty artisans in the pottery-making Pueblo villages, from Taos, New Mexico, to the Hopi reservation in Arizona. Their eloquence fills this book. They speak of 'picking clay' as they would pick flowers, and of the enormous amount of work (fully half their time) necessary to prepare the clay for building their pots. Coil by coil they create jars, bowls, and figurines, and then sand, polish, and paint them. Firing is done outside in a dung-fueled 'kiln' built from scratch for each firing. Trimble shows how Pueblo pottery embodies all the beliefs and values that are central to Pueblo culture. Yet what defines a Pueblo pot is not strictly a matter of tradition, for, as Grace Medicine Flower says of her Santa Clara miniatures, 'Now they call this contemporary; years from now they may call it traditional.' Instead, a Pueblo pot is defined more than anything by the way it feels, and this book captures that feeling in both words and photographs. Talking with the Clay is a joyous, fascinating, and moving book filled with information and insight." -- Back cover