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Rafaelita & Darlene Aguilar

Rafaelita & Darlene Aguilar are full blooded Native American Indians who were born into the Santo Domingo Pueblo. Rafaelita was born in 1937 and Darlene was born in 1960.They are a Mother and Daughter who have teamed up to combine their efforts and creativity to continue a long lived tradition of hand coiling ancient traditional style of black on black pottery. Rafaelita was inspired to learn the art of working with clay from her mother, Miguelita Aguilar. Miguelita passed down all the fundamentals of working with clay and using ancient methods. Rafaelita in turn shared the knowledge with Darlene. Today they both work together as a team, hand coiling pottery and enjoying each others company.

They specialize in hand coiling the large black on black and red traditional Santo Domingo pottery. The elements used to hand make these wonderful pieces are all provided to them from Mother Earth. The clay is gathered from within the Santo Domingo Pueblo. Then, the clay is soaked, cleaned, mixed, hand coiled, shaped, sanded, painted, and fired outdoors, with straw, bark, and manure. They sign their pottery as: Rafaelita & Darlene Aguilar , S.D. P. They are related to the following artists: Marie C. Aragon (aunt) and Vidal E. Aguilar (cousin).

Awards:

-None to date

Publications:

-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographraphies

Frederica Antonio

Frederica Antonio is a full blooded Native American Indian who was born in 1968 into the Acoma Pueblo. Frederica was inspired to continue the long lived family tradition of making pottery by her mother-in-law, Mildred Antonio. Frederica developed an interest in pottery making while observing Mildred hand-coil and paint on her pottery. Mildred taught Frederica all the fundamentals of pottery making. Frederica began making pottery at the age of 18.

Frederica specializes in contemporary hand coiled pottery with hand painted intricate eye dazzling designs. She fashions a brush from the stems of a yucca plant to paint her eye dazzling designs. She also paints a band on the side of her pottery with kokopelli (god of fertility). She also paints using different colors of paint so the pottery gives you a unique three dimensional effect. She hand coils a variety of sizes and styles, every one of her pots is a one of a kind work of art; there are no two pieces alike. She signs her masterpieces as: F.V. Antonio, Acoma , N.M. Frederica is also related to Melissa Antonio (cousin).

Publications:

-Southwestern Pottery Anasazi to Zuni
-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Awards:

-2000 New Mexico State Fair 1st Place
-1999 New Mexico State Fair Honorable Mention
- New Mexico State Fair 1st Place
- Gallup Inter Tribal Ceremonies Honorable Mention

Melissa Antonio

Melissa Antonio, member of the Red Corn Clan and the Sun Clan, was born into the Acoma Pueblo in 1965. She was raised in the traditional way and was taught to respect the Mother Earth, all its creatures, and the clay that it provides. She sparked an interest in becoming an artisan by observing her mother, Lillie Concho, at the age of 12. Lillie taught Melissa the process of gathering clay, preparing the clay, and making natural colors from other natural pigments which were gathered from within the Acoma Pueblo. By the time Melissa reached the age of 23, her skills had improved and her art reflected her experience as a fine artisan.

Melissa specializes in hand coiling the traditional black on white eye dazzler patterns. Her pottery is all constructed by methods used by her ancestors. Melissa will accent her pottery by adding a kokopelli band down the side of her pottery on occasion. She signs her pottery as: M.C. Antonio, Acoma .

Awards:

-1992 New Mexico State Fair 1st & 2nd Place
-1993 New Mexico State Fair 3rd Place
-1994 New Mexico State Fair 1st place
- Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonies
-1996 Eight Northern Pueblos Art Show 1st place -1997 New Mexico State Fair 2nd Place

Publications:

-Southwestern Pottery Anasazi to Zuni
-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Mildred Antonio

Mildred Antonio, member of the Eagle Clan, is a full blooded Native American Indian. She was born into the Acoma Pueblo in 1937. She was inspired to learn the art of working with clay at the age of 15. Mildred watched her aunt, Marie Torivio, construct her pottery and this sparkedan interest in her. Marie taught her all the fundamentals of working with clay using ancient traditional methods. Mildres has also been to several art shows to view the art of other pottery artists and gather some ideas for her own work.

Mildred specializes in the hand coiled traditional Acoma pottery. She is known for her swirl patterns, checker board patterns, and wild antelpe designs incorporated with flowers. She gathers her clay from within the Acoma Pueblo. The clay is hand soaked, cleaned hand mixes, hand coiled, hand sanded, hand painted, and fired outdoors, with natural pigments. Mildred gathers natural flowers and other pigments to boil her own colors on her masterpieces. Mildred signs her pottery as: M. Antonio, Acoma . She is related to the following artists: Santana Antonio (mother-in-law), Milissa Antonio (daughter-in-law), and Frederica Antonio (daughter-in-law).

Awards:

-1991 New Mexico State Fair 2nd Place

Publications:

-Indian Artist Magazine
-Southwestern Indian Pottery 1999 Edition
-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Deborah. Aragon

Deborah. Aragon, “Shri’My To Wi”, was born into the Pueblo of Acoma in 1963.

She began learning the art of pottery making at the age of 15. Deborah was inspired to continue the family tradition of making her pottery by her grandmother, the late Helen R. Vallo. Deborah often observed Helen’s hand coiling and painting techniques using traditional using all natural pigments.

Deborah specializes in contemporary stone polished and etched Horse Hair Pottery, otherwise known as “Greenware” or unfired pottery. Deborah randomly throws authentic horse hair on her pottery while its still hot and then, she removes the hair and she polishes her pottery with a stone. She also etches animals and geometric patterns on her pottery free hand. Her style of pottery has a unique Grey shaded color in comparison to the other horse hair pottery available today. She signs her pottery as: D. Aragon, Acoma .

Deborah is related to the following artists: Rose Chino, Grace Chino, and Helen Vallo (grandmothers). Michael and Robyn Romero (Brother-in-Law and Sister).

Awards:

-1999 New Mexico State Fair 2nd Place
-1998 New Mexico State Fair 3rd Place

Publications:

-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Wilbert “Junior” and Diane Aragon

Wilbert “Junior” and Diane Aragon are full blooded Native American Indians. Junior was born in 1966 into the Acoma Pueblo and has been working with pottery since the age of 20. Diane was born in 1965 into the Laguna Pueblo and has been working with pottery since the age of 23. They were inspired to continue the long lived tradition of working with pottery by many friends and relatives who also produce art work in one way or another. Working with pottery is a lucrative aspect for them, but it is also a hobby that they both enjoy working on together as a couple. It brings them closer to each other as a family.

They specialize in handcrafting ceramic pottery using comtemporary styles. They hand paint the pottery and hand etch designs of kachinas, kokopelli, animals, feather patterns, and other unique designs on ceramic pottery. They fire their pottery in a kiln. Then, they airbrush the pottery with a beautiful glaze to give it that contemporarry style they are famous for pioneering. They craft many different shapes and sizes of pottery. They sign their pottery as: J.R. and Diane Aragon, Acoma-Laguna Pueblo, N.M.

Awards:

-None to date

Publications:

-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Rachel Aragon

Rachel Aragon is a full blooded Native American Indian. She was born in 1938 into the Acoma Pueblo. Rachel is a member of the Eagle Clan. Rachel was encouraged and inspired to learn the art of working with clay at the age of 10 from her mother, Lupe Araon. Lupe shared with Rachel all the fundamentals of hand coiling pottery using ancient traditional methods. Rachel graduated from High School in 1958 and then began pursuing a career in working with clay on a more professional level.

Rachel specializes in hand coiled traditional fertility pottery. She gathers her clay from within the Acoma Pueblo. Then, she soaks the clay, grinds the clay, cleans the clay, hand mixes, hand coils, shapes, sands, and hand paints the pottery, using natural pigments which she boils together to produce the natural colors she paints with. Then, she fires her pottery outdoors, with wood chips. She is well known for her light weight pottery and her beautiful hand painted designs. She signs her pottery as: Rachel Aragon, Acoma , N.M. Rachel is related to: Mary Trujillo (sister), Emma Chino (cousin), Marie Torivio (cousin), Carol Loretto, and Geraldine Sando (nieces).

Awards:

- New Mexico State Fair 1st Place
- New Mexico State Fair 2nd Place
- Santa Fe Indian Market 2nd Place

Publications:

-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Ralph Aragon

Ralph Aragon is a full blooded Native American Indian. He was born into the San Felipe Pueblo and married into the Zia Pueblo, where he has lived for the past twenty years. As long as he can remember, Ralph has had the desire to create his own unique style of art. With traditional upbringing instilled in Ralph, he has learned to respect the beauty of nature which is evident in his animal motifs and earth tone palettes, which are abundantly used in his art. Over the years, Ralph has experimented with his own unique style of painting. He combines contemporary painting techniques with traditional Zia pottery designs, in order to obtain the rock art images and patterns that are associated with social and spiritual themes. Ralph is a strong believer in continuing the traditional ways of his people.

Ralph studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico., In addition, his own quest for a unique way to express his creativity has led him successfully to hand paint shields, pottery, and gourds. Because of this, he has created “something different” for us to enjoy and images that “help preserve his culture and heritage”. He specializes in hand painting handmade pottery using acrylic paints. He signs his pottery as: R. Aragon, incorporated with a Kiva step style, which is a celebration of Pueblo life and the festivities of harvest time.

Ralph is related to Dora Tse’Pe.

Awards:

- Santa Fe Indian Market 1st Place
-Eighth Northern Pueblos Exhibit
- Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial
- New Mexico State Fair 1st Place

- Publications:

-Southwestern Pottery Anasazi to Zuni
-Southwestern Pottery 1999 Edition
-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Martha Arquero

Martha Arquero was born in 1944 into the Cochiti Pueblo. She has been making pottery sculptures since the late 1960’s. Martha was inspired to continue the family tradition of clay sculpting by her Mother, Damacia Cordero. Damacia taught her daughter all the fundamentals of clay sculpting that her Mother taught her.

Martha specializes in handmade clay sculptures like mermaids, frog storytellers, nativity’s, and traditional storytellers. She uses all natural pigments to hand coil her sculptures. Martha gathers her clay from the hills nearby her home. She learned how to clean, soak, mix, shape, sand the sculpture for the right texture, and fire her sculpture the traditional way, outdoors. The colors Martha uses on her sculptures are also made from natural vegetables and minerals that Mother Earth provides for her. Martha signs her sculptures as: Martha Arquero, Cochiti.

Martha is related to the following artists: Josephine Arquero, and Marie Laweka (sisters).

Awards:

- Santa Fe Indian Market 2nd Place
- Santa Fe Indian Market 1st Place 1984

Publications:

-Storytellers and Other Figurative Pottery
-The Pueblo Storyteller
-Collections of Southwestern Pottery
-Talking with the Clay
-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Ambrose Atencio

Ambrose Atencio is a full blooded Native American Indian, who was born into the Santo Domingo Pueblo on June 11, 1963 . He learned the art of working with clay by observing his family members who were fine established artisans. He was taught all the fundamentals of working with clay using the ancient traditional methods. The lucrative aspect of the business was why Ambrose initially began to construct these fine vessels, but now he continues to practice his methods of hand coiling pottery to preserve the ancient traditional way of his ancestors and adds to their legacy.

He specializes in hand coiled, hand painted traditional Santo Domingo pottery. He gathers all his raw materials such as clay, sand, and natural plants from within the Santo Domingo Pueblo. He hand cleans the clay for impurities, mixes all the natural pigments with water, and begins hand coiling his vessels. Once the pottery is dry he sands the finished product to give it a smooth finish all around the vessel. Ambrose then begins to hand paint his beautiful designs with a stem of a yucca that has been fashioned into a brush. The colors he uses on his designs are also provided from plants such as: spinach plant and honey bee wax. His designs are usually the traditional bird, flowers, or geometric designs. He sets his pottery out to dry and then fires his masterpieces the traditional way, outdoors. He signs his pottery as: Ambrose Atencio Kewa, Santo Domingo Pueblo, and the year it was constructed.

He is related to the following artists: Hilda Coriz (sister), Arthur Coriz (late brother-in-law), Robert Tenorio (uncle), and Ione Coriz (cousin).

Awards:

-None to date

Publications:

-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies