Marisa Pomeroy

Art 1010 Paper

I chose Bowl with Plumed Serpent as my project to replicate in clay. It was
originally made by Maria Martinez in 1925. Martinez formed the pot by coiling clay and
stacking them together to form the shape, and then she smoothed it out to give a potlike appearance. Maria used earthenware clay for this pot and burnished it. She began
to make pots when she was a child taught by her aunt, Tia Nicolasa. Marias aunt had
her start with clay dishes she would make for her playhouse. As Maria grew and
developed her skill, she was soon known as a great potter.
Although famous for multiple pieces, Maria Martinez is mostly known for her
black-on-black pottery. Maria was responsible for rediscovering the art of making black
pottery when in 1908, Dr. Edgar Hewett, New Mexico archaeologist and director of the
Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, had come to her for help. He had excavated
some 17th century black pottery shards and Hewett asked Maria to look at them,
hoping she could recreate them. After some experimentation, Maria learned how to
make black pottery. She found that smothering a cool fire with dried cow manure
trapped the smoke, and that by using a special type of paint on top of a burnished
surface, in combination with trapping the smoke and the low temperature of the fire
resulted in turning a red-clay-pot black (Maria Martinez: World-Renowned Potter of
San Ildefonso Pueblo, MariaMartinezPottery.com).
Julian, Marias husband, helped in gathering the clay, making the fire, and
painting the motif on the pottery. Maria felt a connection with her pueblo of San
Ildefonso and participating in tribal ceremonies and religious activities. Even though

she was successful enough through selling her pottery, she insisted on living in her
ancestral home. Maria gave pottery lessons to women in her village and to potters
in neighboring pueblos. She is one of the most influential Native Americans of the 20th
century.
I was drawn to this piece and chose to replicate it because I felt like it had a story
behind it. The imagery on it made me wonder what it meant and the black-on-black pot
intrigued me. The pot itself reminds me of nature with the shape being that of a plant
bulb. It is full and plump so you could fill it with water perhaps. It gives it a functional
look that would fit well into everyday life but then goes beyond an ordinary piece of
pottery. It has influenced me because I have looked into how to do black-on-black
pottery in order to understand this piece better. Trying to replicate the pot makes me feel
a deep appreciation for the creator, but discovering the back story and how it was made
really makes me realize the dedication and talent of the artist.
There are several elements of art I can identify that are important to this
particular pot. The lighter tone on the pot creates an outline where you can now
distinguish defined shapes. The shapes in the main design look like organic shapes,
which are soft and irregular. It is not detailed and colorful, or tries to be life-like at all.
Although it may not be obvious at first, the shapes are actually negative.
I can also identify several principles of design in this piece. There is vertical
balance with the lines going up and down, and horizontal balance on the designs in
the middle of the pot made by the band that encircles the pot. I think this piece shows
a great example of the principles of design element, emphasis. I notice that the lines
near the top running down near the middle, draws your attention to the main design in

the middle. I think the lines on top of the design are there to help guide your eyes to
the main part of the art. There is a certain rhythm in the painting on the pot. The
repetition of the arrow-like designs mixed with the serpent creature designs gives a
certain rhythm to it.
Starting the project, I didnt think making this pot would be too difficult, but I
quickly found out I was completely wrong about that. It was hard to smooth the clay
and get the exact curves as the pot I was trying to recreate. Struggles with symmetry
and such defined curves was difficult at best. It was frustrating and I had to redo it
several times to even get close to the shape. My pot does not do this artwork justice to
the grace and beauty of it.
It was really eye-opening doing this project. I can say with certainty that I really
appreciate art and pottery much more now than I did before beginning this project. I
learned that it takes so much patience, practice, time, effort, and talent to work with
any art form and especially clay. I like the fact that clay is a forgiving medium that can
be molded and shaped but then changed when it does not seem quite right. Learning
about Maria Martinezs background also makes me admire her even more. She did
everything by hand, since she was a little kid. She lived her traditional lifestyle and
continued to create artwork true to her roots instead of becoming mainstream. Maria
always used her talent, helping others along the way demonstrating her unselfish
spirit. It would have been easy for a person to become selfish, but involved her family
and other women in her community to help them earn money to support their families
also. She is a woman to be admired for her devotion and dedication to improve.

Resources:
"Newark Museum 100 Masterpieces of Art Pottery, 1880-1930." Ceramics and Pottery
Arts and Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2017.
"Maria Martinez: World-Renowned Potter of San Ildefonso Pueblo."
MariaMartinezPottery.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2017.
"Maria Poveka Martinez." Pottery.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2017.