Andrea Byers
Following the teaching of Jicarilla Traditions of mica pot making as taught by Felipe Ortega, Byers' mentor, she regards mica pots not only as containers but as givers of life. She states when these “beings” (the mica pots) are created by the union of clay and water by way of the hands of the potter's and their thoughts; they are born. The firing gives them life and the breaking of them their return to Mother Earth. Mindfullness in the creation, cooking, and sharing the food the pots give make a full circle for Byers. The elements of the merging of earth, wind, water, wood and fire brings forth the finished pot. Byers' spirit invested into the pots and the flavors mica imparts to all the foods cooked in them completes the cycle of her pots as “givers of life”, and the knowing that the pots will be useful for generations.