Rainy Naha
SWAIA Fellowship
Award Winner 2007
Hopi Solstice
Heard Best of Division
2006
10" D
x 5" H
We're pleased to present this
award-winning Hopi Solstice pot by Rainy Naha. This pot won Best
of Division at the Heard Museum in 2006. The owner also purchased
this year's Best of Class at Santa Fe Indian Market and has subsequently
made this piece available for sale. This piece has one of the
most elegant shapes we've seen on a low-shoulder vessel by Rainy
and an important provenance among as one of the best of the best.
Rainy Naha was born in 1949
into the Spider/Stick clan as the daughter of Helen Naha (Feather
Woman) and the grand-daughter of Paqua Naha (the original Frog
Woman). Her siblings include Sylvia Naha Humpheries (d.) and
Burell Naha.
Of all Naha family descendants,
Rainy is perhaps the most prolific in her perpetuation of the
pottery tradition. Having won numerous awards, including blue
ribbons at the prestigious Santa Fe Indian Market, the Eight
Northern Indian Art Show, and the Annual Heard Museum Show, it
is easy to see how such meticulous detail and innovative design
has taken Rainy's work to the top.
Rainy has been an active potter
for more than thirty years, and very active during the last ten.
She was taught by her mother, and signs all of her work with
her mother's hallmark feather, along with her name, "Rainy."
Thin walled vessels in both
traditional and contemporary shapes are the basis for her work.
Her work is primarily Hopi
clay with a white slip applied before the polychrome designs,
sometimes known as Walpi Polychrome. All of her pieces are made
using traditional clay, paints, and methods of forming and firing.
Hummingbirds and parrots,
bear paws and clouds are Rainy's additions to her family's designs.
In addition to her imagery, Rainy has also added more clay slips
to her work with the pieces often having up to five different
colors.
