Maria Martinez and her Pueblo ceramics One of the best-known figures in the world of 20th century ceramics is Maria Martinez. Maria Martinez is a Pueblo Indian from the San Ildefondo tribe. Pueblo pottery of the American Southwest holds a unique place in the ceramic art forms of American art. It is full of age-old tradition and culture passed down by family members and potters of the past. The old Pueblo ways of creating it are still valid today and have not been changed or influenced like so many other styles in modern times. One of the amazing factors involving Maria Martinez's work was the incredible amount of time she devoted to the production of her pottery. His life was spent learning, perfecting, teaching and expanding his art, passion and craft. Maria was born in 1880 and was an active ceramist for over 70 years. Considering the hardships of the environment in which he lived and worked, sourcing the materials necessary for his work, and the labor and physical energy required along with it, the sheer tenacity with which he produced his work is inspiring. Maria didn't just buy her clay and materials at a local art shop, because there were none in her culture and pueblo village. Instead, as her ancestors had done many years before her, she learned to gather and gather the materials she needed to produce her work from the land and surrounding lands of her village. The ovens were handmade and fired. The clay was dug from the earth and prepared in the same way she had been taught and passed down by her ancestors. The glazes and finishing materials were also produced by hand (Peterson 48). His curiosity is also to be admired as he asked the traditional artist questions: ? what will happen if I want to do it or make it happen, but I'm not sure how, what should I do next?? (Maloof 28). It has been said that 10% of true artists' feats are inspiration and 90% sweat. In Maria's case this is certainly true. A great artist is always recognized in his ability to see in different ways than the rest of the world and to translate that vision into a form for others to see and understand. It is this idea that defines an artist. As a young woman, Maria was known as the most skilled potter of her pueblo tribe. For this reason, an archaeologist...... middle of paper ......ureau of the Indian Services tries to create positive role models for his students. Unfortunately Malodor's plans did not materialize before she left the Indian Service and the information he had gathered about Maria's life, work and art, nor the plans Maloof had made to use it were not gathered by anyone else. Today's ceramics remain of great collecting interest in the art world due to their supreme sophistication. It dispels the myth that primitives were incapable of a sophistication that could stand the test of time, shine with maturity and fluidity of design, and reflects the earth philosophy that paraphrases that we as humans are fundamentally also clay vessels capable of great beauty (West).Works Cited:1. Antonio, Alessandro. Matriarchs 1983 Pp pG.2. Maloof, Alfreda Ward. ?Maria Martinez produces ceramics? Memories from my time in the Indian Service. 1935? 1943. Living Gold Print. January 1999.3. Peterson, Susan. The living tradition of Maria Martinez. 1977. Kodansha International, New York.4. West, Riccardo. “The Jewel of New Mexico,” Country Living, January 1, 1998. Vol 21 pp 22(3)5. www.Infoseek.com February. 28, 2001.