Acoma Sky City Pueblo

Andrew Lewis is a full blooded Native American Indian. He was born in 1927 into the Acoma Pueblo.

He was inspired to learn the art of working with clay from his mother, the famed late Lucy Lewis.

She taught Drew all the fundamentals of working with clay using the ancient traditional methods that were passed down to her from her ancestors from generation to generation. When Drew was a young child only women were responsible for constructing pottery vessels, however, one day he decided he wanted to learn the methods and construct pottery of his own.

Drew specializes in hand coiled and hand painted traditional pottery vessels. He gathers his raw clumps of clay, sand, and harvests his natural plants which he uses to boil his colors with from within the Acoma Pueblo. He breaks the clumps of clay down to a fine powder form and sifts the powder for impurities. He hand mixes the powder with water and sand to temper the clay. Once that is done, he begins to roll out his clay into snake like coils and begins building his vessels for the desired shape. When he is finished building the vessel he sets it out to dry. Once it is dry he sands his vessel for a smooth finish and prepares it for painting. His colors are all boiled from natural plants and slips that Mother Earth has provided for him. He begins painting with a stem of a yucca plant that has been fashioned into a brush.

His designs are all the traditional mimbres designs and parrot motifs that his ancestors painted many years prior to his birth. Finally, he fires his pottery the traditional way, outdoors.

He signs his pottery as: Drew Lewis, Acoma, N.M.

He is related to: Andrew Lewis, Jr., Theodore Lewis (sons), Ivan Lewis (brother), Carmel Lewis, Ann Lewis, Emma Lewis-Mitchell, Delores Lewis-Garcia, and Mary Lewis-Garcia (sisters).

Publications:
-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies
-Fourteen Families In Pueblo Pottery

Awards:
-Santa Fe Indian Market
-New Mexico State Fair