Dolores Curran

Artist Profile

Dolores Curran was born into the Santa Clara and San Juan Pueblo. She learned the basics of constructing pottery using the ancient traditional methods of her ancestors from her grandmother, who only knew how to mix the clay which was enough to spark an interest in several of the family members who united and brought back the pottery making tradition in their family. She has been constructing pottery since 1979.

Dolores has developed her own unique style of contemporary hand polished miniature pottery. She breaks down the clumps to form a fine powder form and hand mixes water with volcanic ash water. Once the clay is mixed to a fine medium she begins to build her pottery by hand coiling snake like coils and wrapping each layer on one another. When her pottery takes the right shape she sets them out to dry and when they are dried she sands down the rough edges for a fine smooth finish, then, she hand polishes and hand paints her designs with colors she has boiled from the natural vegetation. Her favorite designs are: Avanyu (serpent believed to protect Pueblo people), feathers, clouds and bears. She signs her pottery as: Dolores Curran SCP. She is related to: Alvin Curran (husband), Ursula (daughter), Kevin Naranjo (nephew) and Geri Naranjo (sister).