Taos Pueblo Artists
Contemporary Artists

Angie Yazzie - Potter
Angie was born on June 16, 1965 in Taos, New Mexico. She is a member of the Taos Pueblo Tribe and has lived in Taos all her life. Her mother, Mary Archuleta, is of Taos Pueblo and her father, Nick Yazzie, was a Navajo from Ganado, Arizona.

Primarily a self-taught potter, she was introduced at an early age to traditional pottery techniques by her mother and maternal grandmother, Isabel C. Archuleta. As a child, Angie was fortunate to live a few years with her maternal grandparents and was exposed to many different types of crafts through the shop the owned a Taos Pueblo.

Micaceous pottery gleams with a special shine due to the mica which naturally occurs in the clay. It helps hold liquids when vessels are used for cooking or storing. Foods usually prepared in these pots are stews, pancake-like bread, vegetables, tea and beans. The pots are constructed with hand-rolled coils which are then smoothed and sanded. No wheel is used as is done with thrown pottery. Firing is done in an outside pit with dry cedar or wood bark. Each piece has its own unique design of fire clouds from the firing. Angie's work is recognized for the thinness of the walls and the variety of shapes. Her work has been exhibited at the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe, the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, the Permanent Collection at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe and the Cincinatti Museum in Ohio.

In November, 1994 Angie was invited, along with nine other potters considered to be micaceous masters, to a convocation at the School of American Research. The results of the convocation led to a book entitled "All That Glitters" and eventually an annual micaceous show.