Osti, Jane

Jane Osti was born in the Rocky Ford area of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Her father worked as a miner early in her life, later he became a rancher. Her Cherokee mother died when she was 5 years old.

She attended Oaks Mission Elementary School, then Oaks Mission High School in Tahlequah. After graduating, Jane got married and started a family. She finally started college when she was 33 and living in San Francisco. In 1985 she moved back to Tahlequah and pursued her formal education in art and education at Oklahoma’s Northeastern State University. She was enrolled in Jerry Choate’s class, learning to make sculptures and throw pottery on a wheel when a class assignment to interview someone changed everything for her.

She interviewed Cherokee National Treasure and Master Potter Anna Mitchell. It turned into an invitation to learn and help pass on the re-born knowledge of traditional Cherokee pottery with her own love and passion. That soon became a lifelong mentorship.

While Anna taught Jane the traditional basics of processing the clay, coiling and hand building, decorating, then wood firing, she also passed on her heart-felt knowledge and sense of the Cherokee culture, history and tradition embodied in the making of Cherokee pottery.

Jane earned her Bachelor of Arts in Art at NSU in 1989, then went on to earn her Master’s of Science in Education in 1992. In 1993 she moved to Santa Fe for a while and studied ceramics with John Reeve (of the Barnard Leach school of pottery, London, England). Then she returned to Tahlequah.

Carrying on in Anna Mitchell’s footsteps, Jane continues to be both a teacher and a creator of Cherokee pottery. She works with the next generations of Cherokee potters from her studio and gallery in downtown Tahlequah.

Jane’s work is based on prehistoric southeastern Woodland- and Mississippian-period themes and forms. Then she blends in her own unique and contemporary spirit.

Jane specializes in coil and slab construction. She also stone polishes and glazes, and wood– or raku-fires.

Jane’s design vocabulary is known for sometimes abstract nature, landscape and animal imagery. She also frequently uses protection, endurance and celestial themes in evolving associations. Jane has also created figural vessels such as squashes and gourds. In addition, she has made traditional Cherokee animal effigies, also based on forms found in the ruins of the ancient Mound Builders.

Jane also specializes in creating complex stamped patterns using wooden paddles with intricately carved designs. One of her paddles is covered with a woven burlap fiber, producing a pattern similar to one of the first types of paddles used. Other Jane Osti signature motifs include rim notching and complex patterns of incised traditional designs intermixed with designs drawn from nature.

Jane Osti was awarded the second Cherokee National Treasure Award for Pottery in 2005. The award recognizes her deep knowledge of Cherokee culture and her continuing efforts to revive, preserve, protect and pass on Cherokee culture and practices that might otherwise be lost to future generations.

Jane’s work has been shown in museums across the country and she has earned numerous awards in juried art shows such as the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Red Earth Indian Arts Festival and the Five Civilized Tribes Museum Arts Festival. Her pottery is rich with the earth colors of natural clay and rich with designs and patterns from Cherokee history, life and spirituality.

Some Exhibits that featured pottery by Jane

  • Anna Mitchell Legacy Exhibit. Cherokee Heritage Center. Tahlequah, Oklahoma. November 12, 2016 – April 1, 2017. Note: potters on display include Victoria Mitchell Vasquez, Jane Osti, Crystal Hanna, Stephen Wood, Lisa Rutherford, Lillie Vann, and Ken Masters
  • 2014 Trail of Tears Art Show. Cherokee Heritage Center. Tahlequah, Oklahoma. April 14 – May 26, 2014

Some Awards earned by Jane

  • 2018 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Contemporary Pottery, Any Form or Design, Using Commercial Clays/Glazes, All Firing Techniques, Category 905 – Miscellaneous: First Place
  • 2018 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Contemporary Pottery, Any Form or Design, Using Commercial Clays/Glazes, All Firing Techniques, Category 905 – Miscellaneous: Second Place
  • 2014 Cherokee National Holiday Art Show. Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Category – Contemporary Pottery, Second Place
  • 2014 Trail of Tears Art Show, Category – Sculpture: First Place. Awarded for artwork: “Sacred Winds” (sculpture). Cherokee National Museum. Tahlequah, Oklahoma
  • 2014 Trail of Tears Art Show, Category – Pottery: First Place. Awarded for artwork: “Qualla Cooking Pot”. Cherokee National Museum. Tahlequah, Oklahoma
  • 2014 Trail of Tears Art Show: Bill Rabbit Legacy Award. Awarded for artwork: “Sacred Winds”. Cherokee National Museum. Tahlequah, Oklahoma
  • 2005 Cherokee National Treasure Award Cherokee Nation and Cherokee National Historical Society. Tahlequah, Oklahoma. 2005. Note: awarded for pottery; award also called Cherokee National Living Treasure and Master Craftsperson
  • 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market: Classification II – Pottery, Division J – Non-traditional ceramics, all materials, all techniques, with or without decorative elements, any form, any design, Category 1604 – Jars, wedding jars and vases, painted and unpainted, other than stoneware: Second Place
  • 1995 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification VII – Pottery, Division B – Contemporary Wheel-Thrown/Glazed/Non-Native: Honorable Mention. Awarded for artwork: “Paths of the Mound Builders”
  • 1991 Red Earth, Inc.: Sculpture: Honorable mention. Red Earth Fine Arts. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
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