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Gloria Kahe
Navajo / Hopi

Gloria Kahe is a full blooded Native American Indian, born into the Navajo Nation and is a member of the Water Clan. She was born in 1951. Gloria married into a family of fine Hopi potters. She acquired her pottery making techniques from one of the most respected masters of clay, from the Hopi Reservation, Marcella Kahe (mother-in-law). Marcella taught Gloria all the traditional techniques of hand coiling and hand painting the traditional designs of the Hopi people. She has been making pottery since 1986. The lucrative aspect of the business also played a key roll in her interest as an artist.

Gloria specializes in traditional hand coiled and hand painted pottery. She has developed her own designs on pottery, so that she can establish a style all her own. All of her materials are dug up within in the Hopi Reservation which surround her home. Native minerals and vegetables are also used for contributing the shades on her pottery. Firing is done outdoors, and sheep dung is used for this process. She hand coils symmetrical shapes and sizes. Gloria has established a reputation as a quality artist and has created a market for her fine collectibles. Gloria signs her pottery as: G. Kahe.

Gloria is related to the following artists: Samuel Kahe (husband) and Valerie Kahe (daughter).

Awards:

-1996 Santa Fe Indian Market 1st Place
-1997 Southwest American Indian Arts 1st Place
-Others numerous to list

Publications:

-Hopi-Tewa Pottery 500 Artist Biographies

Alicia Kelsey
Acoma

Alicia Kelsey was born in 1979 into the Acoma Pueblo. She was introduced into pottery making by her Mother, Darla Davis. Darla began involving Alicia with the clay making process at the age of 11.

Alicia specializes in the handmade traditional styled Acoma pottery with parrots and elements of the earth. Alicia was taught where to get clay from the sacred Pueblo grounds and learned how to clean and grind it to a fine powder. Then she will mix it with pottery shards from other broken pottery in order to recycle the old pottery and reuse it so that nothing goes to waste. She paints with all natural colors. The parrot represents wealth. The rainbow represents the earth and rain. The fine lines represent lightning. The pots were used to carry water on the top of their heads if they were rounded on the bottom. The flat shaped ones were used for storage. She also can paint fine line pottery. Her favorite one to paint is the fine line with the deer pattern. Alicia signs her pottery as: Alicia Kelsey, Acoma, NM.

Alicia is also related to Rachel James (grandmother).

Awards:

-1996 New Mexico State Fair 1st place
-1996 New Mexico State Fair 2nd place
-Window Rock State 2nd place

Publications:

-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Wendell Kowemy
Laguna

Wendell Kowemy is a full blooded Native American Indian. He was born into the Laguna Pueblo in 1972. He is a member of the Roadrunner Clan. He was taught all the fundamentals of hand coiling pottery using the ancient traditional methods of his ancestors, under the instruction of Evelyn Cheromiah in 1992. He continues the artform of working with fine pottery to add to the legacy of his people.

Wendell specializes in all natural and traditional hand coiled pottery vessels. He gathers his raw clumps of clay from within the sacred grounds of the Laguna Pueblo. He grinds his clumps of clay into sand like grains and hand mixes sand and water to temper the clay. He begins the hand coiling process which involves rolling out the moist clay into snake like coils and hand building his vessels. Once the vessel has taken form he sets his pottery to dry. Wendell hand boils all of his colors from natural pigments and vegetation which is also harvested from within the Laguna Pueblo. Once the vessels are dry and his colors are boiled Wendell begins hand painting a wide variety of designs which include tularosa swirls, checkerboards, finelines. The designs he paints are usually designs which were found on old potter sherds left from hundreds of years ago. Finally, he fires his pottery the traditional way, outdoors. He signs his pottery as: Wendell Kowemy, New Laguna. He is related to: Kent Kowemy (father), Wendy Cheromiah (mother), Marisa Kowemy, and Aerial (sisters).

Publications:

-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies

Awards:

-None to date