210205-22 Vintage Zia Pottery Small jar; Eleanor Pino Griego
ca. 1970; 3" x 2 1/2"; an uncommonly miniature size expertly executed.
The daughter of Laura Pino Atkins and Feliz Calabaza, Eleanor Pino Griego was born in April of 1953 at Zia Pueblo. She grew up in a family of illustrious potters: Ascenciona Galvan, Seferina Bell, Laura Atkins, Kathryn Pino and Ruby Panana, to name a few. While she learned the basics of the Zia traditional way of making pottery from her grandmother, Seferina Bell, after more than 30 years of making pottery she considers herself to be mostly self-taught.
Over the years she has participated in shows at the Heard Museum in Phoenix; Haskell Indian Art Market in Lawrence, Kansas; the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts and Crafts Show in Espanola and the SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market. She has earned quite a collection of 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place and Honorable Mention ribbons from each.
Eleanor tells us her favorite pieces to create are large polychrome jars decorated with birds and flowers. We asked Eleanor where she gets her inspiration and she responded by saying she's very traditional: the pots call to her to be made. So she is anxious to make them with prayers to Mother Nature and the clear realization that she is her pots and they are her.