SWAIA ARTIST Profile

Therese Tohtsoni

Name
Therese Tohtsoni
Tribe
Picuris
Main Classification
Pottery
Classification #2
Classification #3
Website

SWAIA Booth Numbers

Summer 2024
PAL S 226
Winter 2024
Therese Tohtsoni
Portfolio Example & Artist Statement

Clay is harvested in fall from pueblo land. It is crushed, hand washed, and sieved three times for silkiness. Then sealed in buckets to ferment for 8 months. In spring, the buckets are opened, water is drained, then the stratified clay is removed. The bottom layer, now fine mica, is removed & saved for slip. Clay is kneaded, to wake it up. The potteries are made using the coil & scrape method. Clay is pressed into baskets or old pottery bowls. Coils are added to form walls. Dried corn cobs & gourds are used to scrape and shape the vessels. Vessels are dried slowly. They are sanded with sandstone to smooth. The vessels are slipped & polished with the fine mica saved from the stratified clay. River rocks are used to burnish for a watertight seal. Wool is used to buff. The vessels are pit fired with pine bark. Note: No additives are put in the clay. The result is a pure organic cooking vessel. Prayers and fasting are done throughout the process to adhere to sacred traditions.

2024 Portfolio

View the artist's portfolio for this year.
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