CAFE PASQUAL'S
ART GALLERY

Clarence Cruz is from Ohkay Owingeh, formally known as San Juan Pueblo which is part of the Eight Northern Pueblos along the Rio Grande. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico with a BFA/MFA in Studio Arts. He also received a Minor in Museum Studies through his internship at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico.

In 2007 he was hired as a Consultant Curator for the Inaugural Exhibition for the Alfonso Ortiz Center, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico. Currently he is an Assistant Professor in the Art Department at the University of New Mexico, where he instructs Under Graduate and Graduate level students. He is Chair and committee member for many of the Graduate students in the Art Department and sits on different committees as well.

Through his continued contribution in his works as an Artist in pottey and contribution to the Tradition of Pueblo Pottery, he was honored with”THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT ALLAN HOUSER LEGACY AWARD 2012, HONORING PUEBLO POTTERS, SWAIA SANTA FE INDIAN MARKET”.  As a potter his work consists of traditional pottery of Ohkay Owingeh, which are of six (6) different styles of pottery (black on black/matte, Potsuwi’i incised, black on white, polychrome, polychrome carved, and micaceous). His pottery can be functional or nonfunctional. He works with raw materials that he gathers from different sites, which are clays, slips mineral pigments, volcanic ash and vegetal plants (Bee weed/Spinach) used to paint with to create black or as a binder. He does three different types of firings; (1) an open firing, where the flames are allowed to touch the pots and the results are fire clouds, (2) an oxidation firing, where the pots are shielded from the flames and a clean firing is achieved to get the true color of the clay body, slips, mineral paint, and vegetal paint, (3) reduction firing, where the pots are turned black, depriving the clay pot (s) of oxygen carbonizing it.

Through his continued education he has had the honor to share his knowledge and expertise with the neighboring Pueblo tribal members, who want to carry on the tradition of pottery making within their families and Pueblos from which she or he originates. Today Clarence is active at various levels of higher educational learning outside of the University of New Mexico, such as the Santa Fe Community College, in the Department of Art and Design at UNM Gallup Branch, at Ghost Ranch, Yale, Washinton & Jefferson College, and Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, China.

The Gallery is excited to announce that we now show the work of renowned Santa Fe artist John Connell.

Come see his Bronze sculptures of birds, his large Raven VI, his Apple Pair, solid Bronze Fish and his Earth Touching Buddha with his distinctive surface texture, lively gesture and unique feel.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.  
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.  
                                        -Rumi

    I absolutely love working with clay.   The familiar action of grabbing a chunk of moist earth settles my heart and brings me home.   I build each piece by hand, pinch and coil, watching the form take shape inch by inch.  The slight texture on the surface reveals this process of handbuilding. Throughout my work, pieces are composed of several stacking parts; each head lifts up to reveal treasures within the vessel of the body.  I tend not to overly define the form so there’s a lot of space for the image to arise in the painting of a figure.  If every detail were put down in the clay, then the glazing process would be more like filling in a coloring book versus painting an open canvas.  

    The surface of each piece is decorated with layers of slips, underglazes, stains and oxides, all applied before firing.  By painting the glaze on raw clay, I have the liberty to work and rework a piece, scratching into the clay or scratching off a design to begin anew.  I am constantly mixing colors or layering slips in new ways, so there are always surprises when it’s time to unload the kiln.  How wonderful that after all my hours of work, the fire gets the final say.

    My artwork is where I know how to smile at the unknown and delight in the gap between what I think I’m going to do and what actually happens.  In that space is all the magic.  It’s the crack where mystery seeps in and new ideas are born.  Studio is a world unto itself for me, where I can manifest joy and create a world of beauty and delight.  I feel so blessed to do what I love.

I love to throw clay on a wheel and the meditative feel of centering. When the form is complete, I enjoy the surprise of seeing the finished piece. Nothing is for certain in ceramics. In whatever form the final firing takes, contingency is present. Copper may turn red or it may turn green. It is the elemental magic of fire. I am inspired by forms from ancient pottery and by everyday objects like old screwdriver handles and peppermills. My style is ever evolving. I work with several different kinds of clay. Pit fire, Raku, soda fire, high and low fire are all of interest to me.

• I was born in San Rafael California in 1952. I grew up in Reno Nevada. As a child drawing was my entertainment and my refuge from a chaotic childhood. When I was thirteen my art teacher arranged for me to take summer art classes at the University of Nevada. I took Life Drawing, Art History and Ceramics. In my Ceramics Class I threw cylinders and made small pinch pot sculptures. We took field trips to dig clay.  As an adult, my art education has taken place primarily in relation to other artists who have acted as mentors or as sounding boards. They have looked at my work and responded in deep and practical ways. It is my good fortune that these exchanges have happened naturally over time.
• I have lived in Santa Fe for 35 years. During that time I’ve been in group shows at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Charlotte Jackson Fine Arts, Axle Contemporary, Peters Projects and Santa Fe Clay. In the past I worked as a decorative painter and then as a graphic designer.
• Until recently the class that I took as a teenager was my only exposure to clay, but I feel as if the work that I have done in other mediums is feeding into my present work and I have come home to clay.

I have been showing and selling the things that I make in churches and bars, schools and hair salons, bathrooms and garage sales, flea markets state fairs, the World Financial Center, restaurants, weddings, parties of all sorts, museums, theaters, store windows, night clubs, diners, a candy store and even galleries.

Now a word about my choice of materials.  I was taught by my parents to make stuff out of whatever I could get my hands on: it’s better than spending money on the habit, or sending the stuff to  the landfill.

I once read the Chinese word for “paper is the root word for both “civilization” and “bureaucracy”.  Our material culture is built at the expense of the lives of countless trees and by the exploitation of peoples, animals and the earth Herself.  It hurts!  The by-products of a system (any organic organization) are said to be indicative of the system’s health (or lack of ).

Once I was making a set of giant plastic dinosaurs on commission for a steakhouse (I used a lot of plastic back then because the rats and roaches would get into my paper stuff).  The thought occurred to me that the plastic that I was using was probably made from fossil fuels.  What was I doing?  I was recycling dinosaurs!  I’ve been told that people think of me when asked “paper or plastic?”

Santa Fe reawakened in me a sensitivity to dry, brittle things and an appreciation of the color brown.  In my landscape work I try to heal a lot of scars.  In this series I recycle paper, artistic conventions and my neuroses in another effort to order and reassemble my world.  A friend likes to tell me that the Buddha said “life is suffering”.  Another friend is fond of telling me “he who laughs, lasts!”

 Rick Phelps

Born and raised in Iowa, eldest of eight, educated catholic grade and high school graduated with a BA in English from University of Northern Iowa 1967-1971 taught high school in Iowa, junior high in Los Alamos, SFCC & IAIA in Santa Fe, Highlands in Las Vegas and workshops in book binding, letterpress and suminagashi kept a journal since age 19 / 1968 — a writing practice that has evolved from calligraphy taught by nuns to computers to printmaking to graphic design to letterpress to bookmaking to ceramics…… a visual language

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT ART AND WHOLENESS IN LEARNING

a poem by William Stafford

A RITUAL TO READ TO EACH OTHER

If you don’t know the kind of person I am
and I don’t know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god him we may miss our star.

For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dyke.

And as elephants parade holding each other’s tail,
but if one wanders the circus won’t find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we could fool each other, we should consider —
lest the parade of our mutual life gets lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give — yes or no, or maybe —
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.

page 137 - The Crossing Point
selected talks and writings
1973

Lee Onstott spent most of his career as a Civil Engineer working around the country in the highway industry. In 1991 he came to New Mexico as a highway engineer and has been here ever since. He is now retired as an engineer.
Lee took several wheel throwing pottery classes before taking his first micaceous pottery class in 2005 when he became "hooked". He took additional micaceous classes at Santa Fe Clay, and then at the Community College where he met the master micaceous potter, Felipe Ortega who became his teacher and mentor.
Lee's interest in micaceous pottery comes from the "hands on" method by which the pottery is made and fired. This use of natural materials to make pottery that is both functional and beautiful fits well with Lee's practical personality and training. Lee worked at Santa Fe Clay and Baca Street Pottery until he built a studio at his home where he can be found most days building and firing his micaceous pots.
 

Alfred Blea was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His family has been here for many generations.  Nomadic by nature, Spirit guided him to Master potter Felipe Ortega in La Madera, New Mexico in 2011.  Unbeknownst to him, pottery class began that Sunday; thus his relationship with Clay Mother commenced.  Alfred was living in Oregon at the time, and had traveled many paths from the military, to massage therapy, to becoming a chef and Japanese knife marker. Every summer thereafter, Alfred returned to share studio space at Felipe's and cook for his many guests, students and devotees, while learning alongside his “maestro”.

Felipe Ortega guided and helped his technique through the years.

Alfred harvests, mixes, builds and finishes every micaceous clay piece he creates– a respectful process of the Jicarilla Apache tradition.  His attention to detail, concepts and presence with Clay Mother have deepened his presence that he practices in his daily life.  He thoroughly enjoys every step from start to finish in the process with Clay Mother.

Alfred is honored to walk the path amongst the great potters of New Mexico.

In 2013 Alfred entered Spanish Market in Santa Fe and won Best of Show New Artist and has won awards there every year since for his beautiful Mica Clay pottery. He has work in the Spanish Colonial Arts Museum.

He recently brought his family back to New Mexico.