(Puki, n : a shallow vessel used to shape a pottery vessel)



Yet a puki can be very limiting, you are limited to the size and shape of bowls you already have, and the number of pots made at one time is limited by the number of pukis available. Certainly the prehistoric potters of this area did not always use pukis, that is obvious from the number of corrugated pots found at Mogollon and Anazazi sites. The corrugation goes all the way to the bottom of the pot indicating that at least at first no puki was used. yet if you look at the Gila Shoulders and straight sided bowls of the Hohokam made around the same time, there is little doubt they were using pukis. Given this evidence, I believe that the puki was a Hohokam invention, it’s interesting that the Hohokam technique of paddle and anvil appeared to decline in later years of prehistory while the puki spread throughout the Southwest.


I am currently doing experiments to find ways of constructing vessels without the use of a puki. It should be very liberating.



Work on the firing pit continues, the wet weather last week set me back a bit.

1. It comes from the vessel being entirely a product of the earth, absolutely everything about the pot is native, from the clay to the tempering to the paint and even the hands that form it, it is entirely “southwestern”. A child of the land it represents, conceived in the union of dry desert earth and life giving water, nurtured by the hands of a native potter and born of fire.
2. The artist is involved in all steps of production, from collecting raw materials to the firing and everything in between, therefore the final product is a reflection of the artist is the purest sense. What other art form can make that claim?

I intend to keep my pottery as true to the traditions of the ancients as is possible in this crazy, commercial world. Towards that goal I will establish and implement these rules for my pottery.

1. All materials used in the construction of my pottery will be collected in their raw, natural state from southeast Arizona.
2. All tools used directly in the construction of my pottery will be of the type that the prehistoric potters would have had available to them. For example, I make my own gourd scrapers, yucca brushes and pukis, but I also use cotton cloth that I don’t make myself, that is acceptable because the ancients had cotton cloth and often traded for it.
3. Beyond the tools used directly in forming the pots I will allow myself to use modern tools. For instance, I use a hacksaw to cut scrapers out of a gourd, I use a steel shovel to dig the clay and a pair of scissors to cut yucca leaves into lengths for paintbrushes.

You have to draw the line somewhere, otherwise I will end up carrying my clay home on my back in a burden basket!

Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with firing, and also with different clay sources, I should have some finished pots soon that I can put pictures of up here.