In over 2,000 years, the most innovative changes in Southwest Indian pottery have been made by a relatively few gifted individuals, such as the famed potters Nampeyo, Margaret Tafoya, Maria Martinez, and Popovi Day. Their lives and works are presented in Art of Clay with full color photographs and with intimate, lively discussions of their art.

Also represented in this exquisitely beautiful volume are ten contemporary ceramic artists, remarkable individuals all, whose works are even now causing great changes in the world of art. Their art, and that of their predecessors, is presented in a way that will make art lovers all over the world better understand and appreciate the extraordinary nature of their achievement.

About the Author: Lee M. Cohen founded Gallery 10, one of the most prestigious art galleries in the Southwest.

EXCERPTS FROM ART OF CLAY
"The gift of a great pot is the gift of what its creator has put within it, and which the pot will forever contain. A great pot holds the ether of genius." (from the foreword by Roger G. Kennedy)

"The Clay Mother is an ages-old figure who occupies a secure niche in the Pueblo pantheon. Venerated since prehistoric times by Santa Clarans and their ancestors, she is the personification, the very embodiment of the spirit of the living clay from whom potters draw the sustaining material for creating their wares. With the Clay Mother's cooperation and assistance, potters know much is possible. But if she is in any way offended, displeased, or dissatisfied with a potter or a piece of pottery, no good can result: pottery falls apart while being formed, cracks while drying, or shatters into oblivion during firing." (Ron McCoy)

"The gathering of the clay, the mixing, the curing, the hand- coiling used to construct the shapes, the carving or painting with liquid clay slips, the stone polishing, the firing-all are performed with an almost spiritual reverence as if the potter is the medium for a higher force, fashioning the elements of nature into objects of beauty." (Lee M. Cohen)

"The genius of Nampeyo was to grasp the possibilities that ancient pottery styles offered and then to explore every aspect of them in her own work. Her early duplications were so well done that they aroused fear ... that her pottery would be mistaken for the ancient pieces. But this phase soon passed, and she went on to express her own creativity....The characteristic isolated motifs were abandoned, leaving behind an uncluttered background space as an integral part of the overall decoration. This use of openness is one of the most distinguishing aspects of Nampeyo's pottery, for it brings with it a classical elegance." (Barton Wright)

"From every point of examination, Lonewolf's wares command the highest degree of appreciation. Not only is the form of each vessel fluid, but the pieces are slipped to fire into bursts of orange, red, yellow, blue, green, purple, sienna, even an iridescent orange-gray; each is meticulously carved and incised, then expertly polished. Lonewolf often travels as far afield as Colorado in search of the proper clay for making his slips and may spend as much as two or three years working on a single piece as he strives for the self-imposed standard of perfection his art requires. (Ron McCoy)

REVIEWS: "It Is a beautiful book . . . one that could serve either as an introduction to Native American pottery, or as a beautiful precis of the best i/n the art." ........... (New Mexico Magazine)

"The works of 20 southwestern potters are featured in this stunning but reasonably priced coffee-table book from Clear Light Publishers. Museum-quality pots and figures from the late 19th and 20th centuries are dramatically photographed In full color and accompanied by essays on each artist by southwestern historians and art experts...Art of Clay is well balanced between photographs and text. capturing the spirit of both the artist and the work." (The Bloomsbury Review)

"Browse through Art of Clay with a friend so you can share the exhilaration.... Truly a best of the best by the best writers, produced by one of the very best publishers in the Southwest today. (Prime Time)

A limited Edition of 300, numbered and signed by all the potters represented in the book, is available with an embossed slipcase: $300