The Pot Seller – Hopi Maiden

I’ve always wanted to do a lady from this tribe and after taking in the Santa Fe Indian Market earlier this month I was able to come up with the necessary research to start the project.

The hairstyle is what sets off the piece. It’s know as a Squash Blossom.  If your a Star Wars fan you’ll note that Princess Leia also put her hair up this way.   You will also note from the photo that I’ve left the eyes closed.  Haven’t decided whether to open them up or not.  I kind of like it this way.  She’ll be wrapped in a Hudson Bay Blanket, probably red and there will be a little Turquoise in the final mix.  Should be a colorful piece.

(Next Day!)

Passed on football today to spend some time in the shop blocking out the body for this young lady.  Also gave her some earrings.  Actually, that’s the second set of baubles  that I whittled as I made a mistake and brushed off my table and the first bunch fell the floor and disappeared into a large pile of chips.

I’ve got something really special planned for her setting which should be a real winner….at least I hope so.  She’s working on her dowry so she’s been busy down at the clay wall scooping out a supply to flesh out her inventory.

(Next Day!)

Here she is in her setting.  Pretty nifty even if I do say so myself.  Should be quite a piece when finished…especially with all the painting to come on the pots.  I think I’ve figured out a way to add the decoration so that will be a new challenge to look forward to.

I spent about as much time turning and whittling those five pots as I did carving the figure!  I first turned them on the lathe and then, because I didn’t want them to look out of place with the textured of the figure, I whittled the surfaces.  The dark pot is walnut but it will be painted over as will the others.  Want them all to look like fired clay which will be a couple of tan colors.  I’m thinking a white/beige color for the blanket with red and blue stripes.  Should balance out well with the black hair and the blue of the turquoise.  The skirt will probably be black or a very dark blue.

I have no doubt that this will be a classic once done and someone is going to get a great piece of original work.  Hope you like her.  No more photos this time time but your comments are still welcome.

(Another day passes!)

Well this little lady turned out fantastic!  I will admit though that I thought I was going blind for a while after painting those pots.  In the end it was certainly worth all that squinting.   I think she is one of the best pieces I’ve done.  The composition and the attitude of the little scene just makes you smile which is what it’s all about with my work.

I turned the pots on my lathe and then whittled them to look more in line with the girl.  Well, while that looks nice it certainly made painting a lot more difficult.  To get the rings to look good I put the painted pot back on the lathe and with a marker slowly turned the wheel while holding the marker as steady as possible.  Had the pot been completely smooth as it was originally this would have been an easy job but with all those little divots the pen zigged and zagged each time it hit one.  I had to go back with a brush and clean things up the old way.  Another problem was those markers.  For some reason they just don’t seem to work well on a varnished surface. Must be some kind of chemical interaction between the pens fluid and the varnish.

Comments welcome.