(1950- present)
Pueblo: Jemez Pueblo
Geraldine Sandia was born into the Jemez Pueblo in 1950 and began to work with clay around the age of 10. She was inspired to learn and continue the long lived tradition of working with clay from her mother Cecilia Loretto, who taught Geraldine the fundamentals and shared with her the special techniques of a master pottery artist. Geraldine gathers the raw clay from the surrounding hills at Jemez Pueblo then refines it and uses the coil method to create her forms. The surfaces are sanded, hand painted and stone polished before the pieces are fired outdoors in the traditional way. Geraldine specializes in handmade, hand painted, two-toned polychrome, stone polished traditional Jemez pottery. She hand paints patterns of feathers and geometric designs among many other patterns.