Bird and branch

About Bird and Branch Designs

Since the first bird images were painted on early Native American pottery, they have often been pictured sitting on a branch of some sort. Some branches were on trees, others on bushes, others on cactus. Often the branches included leaves and flowers and/or berries. Sometimes birds were pictured on the ground, like the Zia roadrunner, the Santa Clara quail or the generic Santo Domingo bird. Some were always pictured in flight, like the hummingbird. But every pueblo had its own versions of "traditional" bird images and those have carried over into today.

At Mata Ortiz, things are different. There are no restrictions on design and no connections to any history so everything goes. It's all about what will sell in the marketplace. Bird and branch designs are very popular as there are many, many versions of them, with and without leaves, flowers or berries, sgraffito and/or carved and/or painted, virtually all contemporary.

Some artists, like Elicena Cota of Mata Ortiz, have branched further themselves with their design palettes and include dragonflies and butterflies with vines, branches, leaves and flowers.

---