Gary Hermanson on wed 8 jan 97
re>Bee plant/weed
I've never seen any San Ildefonso or Santa Clara pottery that used pigments,
it's all been either red (oxidized) or black ware (reduced). The Hopi use
beeweed extract as a binder for their pigments. Different color pigments are
ground into the pigment and then painted on the pot. Beeweed is just a local
weed that grows in this area and the Hopi potter I watched thought that there
wasn't anything special about this plant except that it grew in abundance, stays
on the pot, and has been used for generations.
The plant is boiled down to a syrupy black consistancy. A little of the syrup is
poured onto a flat rock and a chunk of pigment "rock" is ground into the syrup
by rubbing. The pigment looks like clay or soft stone and is ground into
suspension extremely easily. I saw the potter use red and black pigments applied
in this manner but when I asked about the pigments he didn't know what they were
only where on the tribal lands to find them.
The Acoma potters use this method for their polychrome pots also. Lucy Lewis
used to get her tan pigment from an arroyo near the freeway between Albuquerque
and Santa Fe that only the Acoma indians knew about. I think all of the Hopi
clay and pigments come from their lands.
gary
Don Sanami on thu 9 jan 97
Gary, We have often used strong green tea,both in N.America and in
Japan.We have also used several types of sea weed. Gum Tragajanth is
quite traditional as are jelly beans.On Wed, 8 Jan 1997, Gary Hermanson
wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> re>Bee plant/weed
> I've never seen any San Ildefonso or Santa Clara pottery that used pigments,
> it's all been either red (oxidized) or black ware (reduced). The Hopi use
> beeweed extract as a binder for their pigments. Different color pigments are
> ground into the pigment and then painted on the pot. Beeweed is just a local
> weed that grows in this area and the Hopi potter I watched thought that there
> wasn't anything special about this plant except that it grew in abundance, sta
> on the pot, and has been used for generations.
> The plant is boiled down to a syrupy black consistancy. A little of the syrup
> poured onto a flat rock and a chunk of pigment "rock" is ground into the syrup
> by rubbing. The pigment looks like clay or soft stone and is ground into
> suspension extremely easily. I saw the potter use red and black pigments appli
> in this manner but when I asked about the pigments he didn't know what they we
> only where on the tribal lands to find them.
> The Acoma potters use this method for their polychrome pots also. Lucy Lewis
> used to get her tan pigment from an arroyo near the freeway between Albuquerqu
> and Santa Fe that only the Acoma indians knew about. I think all of the Hopi
> clay and pigments come from their lands.
> gary
>
Ernesto Burciaga on thu 9 jan 97
Gary
I have a problem with the Acoma potters digging clays on the Santo
Domingo Pueblo lands??? I think I know the spot you talk about and it
is still there. An old friend of the family used to go to this area
for different color pigments to be used in staining furniture. It is
truly an intresting area and Back in my youth I used some clay from
this area also.
Ernesto Burciaga
eburciag@rt66.com
Vince Pitelka on fri 10 jan 97
>I've never seen any San Ildefonso or Santa Clara pottery that used pigments,
>it's all been either red (oxidized) or black ware (reduced).
>gary
Gary -
Check out some of the books on the Maria and Julian Martinez. She is
perhaps best known for her black-on-black pots, but much of her early work
is polychrome.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@Dekalb.Net
Phone - home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801
Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville TN 37166
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