Mary Cain

Artist Profile

Mary Cain was born in 1915 into the Santa Clara Pueblo. She began hand coiling traditional Santa Clara pottery in 1930. According to Mary, pottery has been a part of her family heritage since as long as her great grandmother can recall. Mary’s mother, Cristina Naranjo, inspired and encouraged her to continue the long lived tradition of working with clay. Her grandmother, Serafina Tafoya, was also a great inspiration to her. Mary can trace her roots back to great, great grandparents Sarafina and Geronima Tafoya.

Mary specializes in traditional hand coiled black on black or red Santa Clara hand polished pottery, with carvings of water serpents and bear paws. “I love the work and will continue to do this for as long as I can,” Mary said.