Lucy M. Lewis

From NativeWiki

Lucy M. Lewis (1898 - March 12 1992) was a Native American potter from Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico. She spent nearly all her life atop the high mesa of Acoma Pueblo, making pottery since the age of 7. She is largely responsible for the revival of Mimbres black-on-white pottery designs which are more than 1,000 years old. She was famous, as well, for her exquisite polychrome designs and her fine-line and lightning designs.

Lucy Lewis was the last of the Acoma matriarchs and one of the most widely respected potters from her pueblo. She followed pueblo tradition in every step of pottery production by offering prayers of thanks to Mother Earth for the clay, taking only as much clay as necesaary, using only her hands to work the clay, forming the vessel from coils of clay, scraping the walls with tools fashioned from gourds, painting the vessel with slips and paints made from clay and vegetal sources and, finally, firing the finished pieces in an outdoor handmade kiln.

Two extensive biographies have been published:

Lucy M. Lewis: American Indian Potter by Susan Harnly Peterson and Fred Kabotie
A Tribute to Lucy M. Lewis: Acoma Potter by John E. Collins and Dr. Frederick J. Dockstader