Darlene James
Thunderbird
Tile
4 1/2"
H x 4 1/2" W
Darlene James is a great-great-grandaughter
of the famous Hopi potter Nampeyo. Darlene was born into the
Hopi-Tewa Corn Clan in 1956.
She began pottting in 1968
and learned from her aunts Dextra Quotskuyva and Priscilla Namingha
as well as from her grandmother, Rachel Namingha. Her work stronly
reflects her Hopi-Tewa heritage an that of the Nampeyo family.
She is an exceptional painter,
and her pottery normally takes on traditional forms including
conventional pots, low-shouldered bowls, and plates with Palhik
Mana designs, in addittion to smaller-scale works including miniature
canteens, ladles and figures.
Darlene digs her clay from
different locales around First Mesa and ancestral Hopi villages.
The gray clay from the Sikyatki fires to a beautiful orange-yellow
or beige color; the yellow clay from the same area turns red
upon firing. Jeddito clay turns to a light creamy yellow color,
while clay from Awatovi fires white or light beige.
