Rose Pacheco
& Billy Veale
Butterfly
Blossoms
6 1/4"
H x 6" D
Rose Pacheco was born in 1968
and has been active making pottery since the late 1970's. She
is the daughter of the late Paulita and Gilbert Pacheco. Gilbert
and Paulita practiced the traditional Santo Domingo craft of
heishe (handmade stone strung jewelry) until the 1970s when Paulita's
eyes gave out and they turned to pottery.
Paulita is the sister of famed
potter Robert Tenorio. Rose started potting occasionally at the
age of 7 under the guidance of her parents and her uncle, Robert.
When her mother passed away
and Gilberts' health started to fail she assumed the family tradition
and began to make a career as a potter with the assistance of
her boyfriend Billy Veale, a Navajo. Both Rose and Billy make
the pots and paint the pots although Rose's pots have a more
traditional Santo Domingo feel than do Billy's. And they collaborate
in the outdoor firing as well.
Rose considers herself a traditional
potter; her wares are hand-coiled from locally gathered clays,
decorated with popular centuries old animal and floral motifs
with natural paints derived from area plants applied by yucca
brush and then finally pit fired outdoors. An egg white coating
followed a vegetable oil imbues the work with the final soft
sheen.
Hers is a centuries old labor
intense method of crafting pottery which usually means high price
tags, but Rose's excellent signed artistic pottery is surprisingly
affordable.
