Lucas, Yvonne
Born in 1959, Yvonne Analla Lucas grew up in Gallup, New Mexico. Her father is from Laguna Pueblo, her mother is Dineh. She shares her pottery tradition with her brother, Calvin Analla, Jr., along with their grandmother, Evelyn Cheromiah and their aunt, Gladys Paquin. These four potters together have worked hard to revive the Laguna Pueblo pottery tradition.
Yvonne made her first small jar in the summer of 1997, encouraged by her husband, Steve Lucas, and his aunt, Dextra Quotskuyva, both esteemed potters from the Nampeyo family of Hopi. After having observed their pottery making techniques, Yvonne began to devise her own creations with Hopi clay and Laguna designs.
Her pots are gracefully formed, well painted and finely polished. Her design portfolio includes stunning geometric designs and floral motifs. Her polychrome pieces use deep black and terra cotta colors with mineral-based oranges and reds.
Yvonne’s creation process begins with digging the clay from special places among the surrounding mesas at Hopi. Soaking the clay in water hydrates the material so the rocks, weeds and other foreign materials can be removed. The clay is strained through cloth and allowed to sit. Then excess water is skimmed off until the proper material consistency is reached.
After kneading the mixture thoroughly to remove any air bubbles, she begins to hand-coil her form, pinching and scraping the coils as she goes. When dried sufficiently, the vessel is sanded, then polished with a river stone. Painting the designs with organic black and mineral-based red is the final step before firing the pot.
Her firepit is made of a screen placed over a base of firewood and manure. Pot shards are placed over the new pottery to cover and protect it from taking on too much heat and being discolored by the smoke. Then additional manure is added. After several hours and the fire has burned down, the pots are carefully removed.
Since she started to enter her pieces in juried competitions in 1997, Yvonne has consistently been earning ribbons for her pottery. Yvonne signs her work with her name, “Y. Lucas,” and a hallmark: the Mudhead symbol of her husband’s Koyemsi clan.