Naranjo, Bernice

Bernice Naranjo was born Bernice Suazo at Taos Pueblo. She married Tito Naranjo and moved to his home at Santa Clara Pueblo. She is the mother of Forrest and Dusty Naranjo, grandmother of Johnathan Naranjo.

At Taos Pueblo, Bernice was a self-taught potter who almost always worked with micaceous clay. At Santa Clara she adjusted her process and learned to work with Santa Clara clay. She is most known for her dark brown and sienna jars decorated with intricate sgraffito designs.

Bernice spent years working out the process to make her trademark sienna/brown jars. It seems they are formed, fired black, etched, then re-fired to sienna. They have earned her numerous ribbons at the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum Guild Indian Art Fair & Market.

Some Awards Bernice has earned

• 2019 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division G – Pottery miniatures not to exceed three (3) inches at its greatest dimension: Honorable Mention. Awarded for artwork: “Honoring Our Wildlife Environment”
• 2018 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division C – Traditional Burnished Black or Red Ware; Incised, Painted or Carved, Category 702 – Carved of incised, black or red, over 8 inches: Second Place
• 2017 Santa Fe Indian Market: Classification II – Pottery, Division C – Traditional Burnished Black or Red Ware, Incised, Painted or Carved: Best of Division shared with Dusty Naranjo
• 2017 Santa Fe Indian Market: Classification II – Pottery, Division C – Traditional Burnished Black or Red Ware, Incised, Painted or Carved, Category 702 – Carved or incised, black or red, over 8″: First Place shared with Dusty Naranjo
• 2017 Santa Fe Indian Market: Classification II – Pottery, Division D – Contemporary Pottery, any form or design, using Native materials with or without added decorative elements, traditional firing techniques, Category 801 – Sgraffitto, any form: Second Place
• 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division G – Non-traditional pottery, using traditional techniques and materials, any form or design, Category 1409 – Sgraffito, red or red two-tone: Third Place