Santa Clara Pueblo

Gloria “Goldendrod” Garcia is a full blooded Native American Indian. She was born in 1942 into the Santa Clara Pueblo.

She was taught all the fundamentals of constructing pottery vessels using the ancient traditional way by members of her Pueblo.

Goldenrod specializes in hand coiled and sgrafitto seed jars. She gathers her raw clumps of clay, volcanic ash, and natural vegetation from within the Santa Clara Pueblo. She breaks down the clumps of clay and the volcanic ash into a fine powder form and hand mixes it with water to produce a fine medium, once that has been obtained she begins rolling the clay out into long snake like coils and begins hand building her vessels, once the pottery has taken form it is set out to dry. When the pottery has dried she sands each piece by hand to smooth out any rough edges. She hand polishes and hand etches her designs without any stencils.

Her designs range in a wide variety of horses, buffalo, corn maidens, Avanyu (serpent believed to protect Pueblo People), butterflies, rain clouds, deer, bears, bear paws, and redwing blackbirds. Goldenrod completes her masterpieces by offering a traditional outdoor firing.

She signs her pottery as: Goldendrod.

She is related to: John Garcia (husband), Jason Garcia, John David Garcia, Jr. (sons), and Petra Gutierrez (mother).

Publications:
-Pueblo Indian Pottery 750 Artist Biographies
-Southwestern Pottery Anasazi to Zuni
-Miniatures of the Southwest
-American Indian Art Magazine 1978 & 1978
-Indian Artist Magazine 1990 & 1996

Awards:
-2001 New Mexico State Fair 4th Place
-1998 Santa Fe Indian Market 3rd Place
-1994 Santa Fe Indian Market 1st Place
-1992 Santa Fe Indian Market 2nd Place
-1990 Santa Fe Indian Market 1st Place
-1989 Santa Fe Indian Market 1st Place
-1988 Santa Fe Indian Market 3rd Place
-1986 Santa Fe Indian Market 2nd Place
-1983 Santa Fe Indian Market 1st Place
-1981 Santa Fe Indian Market 2nd Place
-1979 Santa Fe Indian Market 2nd Place
-1978 Santa Fe Indian Market 2nd Place
-1977 Santa Fe Indian Market Best of Division