Ida Sahmie (Navajo) the wife
of Andrew Sahmie (Hopi), and the daugther-in-law of Priscilla
Namingha Nampeyo. She was born in 1960 and has been an active
potter since 1990.
Her favorite designs are Yei-like
figures. She has been described in Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500
Artists Biographies by Gregory Schaff:
"Ida Sahmie is a Navajo
woman who is married into a Tewa family. She has learned how
to make pots in the technique and style of Hopi-Tewa potters.
However, she prefers to use Navajo designs, especially Navajo
Yeis, spiritual 'Holy People.'"
Along with her appearance
in Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500 Artists Biographies by Gregory
Schaff (p. 143), Ida is also featured in Fourteen Families
in Pueblo Pottery (p. 48), and in The Legacy of a Master
Potter: Nampeyo and Her Descendants by Mary Ellen and Laurence
Blair (p. 188).
Although her work has drawn
criticism from both the Hopi-Tewa and Navajo communities, Ida
maintains her comittment to her artwork and continues to push
forward with clean and consistent pieces.
Ida is quoted in Fourteen
Families: " Personally, I feel I have a unique talent
with pottery. It's a combination of both Hopi and Navajo, though
I feel it should be more Navajo because I am a Navajo. I want
to stick with more Navajo designs. The Yei figures are the most
popular for me, secondly would be the rug designs, and third
the sand painting designs."
This piece depicts her classic
"dancing" scene on black backdrop. Her polychrome desings
are clean and clear. Her attention to detail is unsurpassed.
One look at a piece by Ida Sahmie, and you know you're looking
at a work of art.
