Thomas Tenorio

Thomas Tenorio, a full blooded Native American Indian, was given the Indian name of “U-Nah-Thee-Wah”  when he was born into the Pueblo of Santo Domingo in 1963. Thomas now has been making pottery for more than 9 years. Thomas felt that the ancient traditional methods of pottery making was dying within his Pueblo, so he was inspired to try and resurrect this long lived legacy. Thomas taught himself how to make traditional pottery by reading textbooks, conducting one on one interviews with other pottery makers, research, and by trial and error. Thomas now teaches classes on pottery making so that anyone wanting to learn the art of working with clay can do so and carry on a long lived tradition. He gathers all of his natural pigments from within the Santo Domingo Pueblo. He cleans, hand mixes, hand coils, shapes, and fires his pottery  outdoors, the traditional way, or he will fire his pottery in a kiln. Thomas has invented his own unique contemporary style. He adds a contemporary flare of cut-outs and new colors to the traditional Santo Domingo style. He makes a wide variety of shapes and sizes and he also paints birds and traditional designs with natural pigments found within his Pueblo. He signs his pottery as: Thomas Tenorio, Santo Domingo Pueblo.