Tina Garcia
Tina was born in Oregon in 1957 and moved to Santa Clara Pueblo at the age of 5.Tina Garcia learned the skills and art of pottery making primarily from watching her family (her mother, Lydia Tafoya Garcia; her grandmother, Severa Tafoya; and her aunt, Angela Baca) make blackware pottery from a very early age. She started potting herself at the age of 11 and showed much early talent which was encouraged by her mother.
In 1980, Tina decided to make pottery for a living. She went to the School of American Research to study their collections and after careful consideration decided to focus on classic traditional shapes without the carving typical of Santa Clara pottery.
All of her materials are provided for her from elements of the earth. She gathered her own clay, cleaned, mixed, shaped, coiled, and fired her pottery the traditional way, outdoors. Her pottery shows remarkable gift for form, and her polish is of superior quality.
Tina worked with many prestigious pottery demonstrations and assisted in producing a video along with Bruce Hucko for the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe, N.M. about traditional pottery in our current era.
Most of Tina Garcia’s pottery is elegantly polished, uncarved and undecorated; but she has been known to use the bear paw. Tina signs her pottery with her name and “SJ/SC”, as her father is from San Juan Pueblo heritage, and her mother is from Santa Clara Pueblo heritage.
She won numerous awards with the following some of the highlights:
Santa Fe Indian Market
Best of Division 1986
Best of Division 1996
First Places virtually every year The Katherine and Miguel Otero Award for Excellence in Any Category 1995.
