John Montoya started out by
painting on ceramics while in his teens. He shared ideas with
his cousin, Robert Montoya as they each advanced their skills.
During the mid 1970's, he served his country in the US Navy and
then returned to Albuquerque and Sandia Pueblo to continue his
artistic progress.
When he arrived at the point
where he wanted to learn the methods of traditional pottery,
he approached a potter from another Pueblo with the customary
gift of tobacco. However, the potter held personal beliefs that
the knowledge of pottery should be a privately developed skill
and that the Clay Mother is the best teacher.
This turned out to be a good
lesson for John since he was able to develop his own style, with
only the knowledge of tradition to guide him. So he set out to
learn this skill for himself. Using commercial clay at first,
he started to make his first pot. It was thick and crude, but
he continued to practice and then started using local clay and
paints.
As time progressed, John turned
into an excellent potter. So good, that some have said incorrectly
that he occasionally made pottery using a wheel. He was a traditional
potter that staid true to the traditional ways.
John passed away a few years
ago, but was well known for producing some very fine traditional
pottery. He's listed in Hayes & Blom 1996, Berger and Schiffer
2002 and Schaaf 2002.
model used to show
size and proportion
