Elliott and Zelda Garcia

Artist Profile

Elliott and Zelda Garcia, members of the Sun Clan and Parrot Clan, are from the Acoma Pueblo. Elliott was born in 1947 and Zelda was born 1967. Their personal creativity inspired them to continue the family tradition of pottery crafting.

They specialize in hand crafting ceramic pottery. Each piece they craft has special meaning. The white pottery represents Mother Earth and the sunrise represents clan origin. Bear and claw represent power, straight and long life. The feathers represent spirits above. Good luck is signified by the lizards and turtles and the Acoma Sky City is represented by the Pueblos. The colors they use also represent elements of the earth: red and yellow for the sun and blue for the sky. Black represents the rain and is one of the oldest designs used. They etch and craft all these symbols on their pottery freehand, no stencils are involved. They sign their pottery Zel Sun Rise, followed by a sun symbol to denote their clan origin. They are related to Shana, Lynette, Janet Garcia (daughters) and Wilfred Garcia (brother).