Leaving Santa Fe, New Mexico and the high arid plains that enclose the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, take a short drive south on the Turquoise Trail and you will enter the gentle rolling hills, dramatic sandstone out-croppings, and the curious arroyos that characterize the Galisteo River Basin. Many Native American relics and artifacts lay quietly upon these rocky ledges. Walk respectrully down a dry river bank and you can still see evidence of ancient clay pits. By paying attention to small details on the land, you might see such treasures as grinding stones, scrapers, or pieces of pottery shards: a tangible reminder and testimony to the indigenous population of potters who lived here long ago. Looking at the red, brown and yellow adobe and caliche clays prevalent in this area, you can understand why pottery continues to be a shared language that not only links cultures together but reminds us of our living continuity to the past.

Liz Paterson, whose studio, Clayworks West, lies in a crook just off the Turquoise Trail, is one potter who exemplifies this coherence between the earth, a sense of place and person , and the tradition of potter. The land here is beautiful, dramatic and the sculptural work that Liz creates reflects these qualities.

Entering the studio, your eyes might first alight on the expansive den of bears cavorting along the shelves, or you may notice a variety of other animals: coyotes, turtles, lizards, foxes, and more. Each pot is animated with the essence of the animal. Liz has a genuine love and a certain rapport with animals that is conveyed joyfully in each individual piece of her work. This connection is a pertinent link to the environment that Liz works in: singing coyotes live nearby, lizards dream on sunny rocks, and bears, though becoming rare, are not unknown to the region.

Liz's fetish bears are symbolic of the journey through life and are completed with a small individual bundle to aid them on their journey. These bears are good medicine for the soul, a truth that can be validated in the simple fact that they are now in every part of the U.S. and have been collected in places as far away as Europe and Japan.

Most importantly, it is the finish that really sets Liz's work apart and makes it come alive. For the last fifteen years she has been perfecting the technique of "smoking" burnished pottery. Burnishing is an ancient method of sealing the pots by either polishing each piece with a smooth stone to a high gloss or smoothing with a chamois for a subtle glow. Working with low fire clay and a terra sigilatta slip, whose indigenous qualities bestow a sealed, smooth, bond with the clay's exterior, Liz then buffs each piece gently and prepares it for the final celebration that completes the process...the smoking.

The pots are orinigally fired to 1800 degrees and then prepared for this finishing touch. Fired over hay and sage in a quick, high flame amidst intense heat, the pots' surfaces swirl with smoke patterns. "Smoking" is like catching a waft of smoke just before it dissipates and vanishes into thin air, imprinting its elegant and subtle form upon the piece. Terra Sigilatta (literally meaning "sealed earth") forms an alliance with the carbon. The carbon from the fire imprints the pots and casts a "negative" space upon the lighter form, creating a harmonious tension and drawing the eye to the feeling of the piece as much as to the form. These pots are very much alive.

The final firing is a dramatic and exciting process for everyone involved! Liz is aware of the fine balance and dialogue between the earth and herself: nature is the star here, the potter is simple the guide.

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