pottery

Welcome To
The Pottery Guild

This is work from the website of Jane Osti, Cherokee National Treasure.
For more visit her webstie at http://www.janeosti.com/
"While attending classes at N.S.U. Jerry Choate, my pottery and sculpture
instructor, gave me the inspiration and freedom to explore my creative instincts
to my greatest potential. Under his guidance I created a sculpture of Anna
Mitchell, Cherokee Master Potter. The sculpture of Anna was the beginning
of a special relationship that introduced me to the pre-historic traditional pottery
and art of the Southeastern Woodland Tribes. I have continued to research
and produce pottery and sculpture that reflects the pre-historic art of Cherokee
people in both traditional and contemporary styles."
Jane Osti

17950 S. Muskogee Ave.
Tahlequah, Oklahoma 74464
918-453-0449
jane@janeosti.com

Anna Mitchell
Cherokee potter Anna Mitchell has worked hard for more than 30 years on her pottery
and has done much research to make it authentic.

She is known today for creating Southeastern and Eastern Woodlands-style pottery, but faced a few
obstacles when she began making pottery 34 years ago.

There was no guide on creating Cherokee pottery, and few Cherokees were making pottery when she
began creating objects from clay found in a pond near her home in Vinita, Okla., in 1967. After creating
these small objects, including a pipe for her husband, Robert Clay Mitchell, she became curious about
clay and how her Cherokee ancestors created their pottery.

"I knew Cherokees hadn't really done pottery since removal, there wasn't anyone doing it or people
who knew how to do it," Mitchell said. "But I thought surely it could be done again."

When she realized the art of making Southeastern pottery was in danger of being lost, she became
more determined to help preserve it.

"I believe without art you don't have culture and without culture you don't have art," she said.

Mitchell began studying tribal cultures and their artwork searching for instructions on making
Southeastern pottery. There was very little. The knowledge of creating Southeastern-style pottery had
lain "dormant" for many years, she said.

Eventually she found a book entitled "Sun Circles and Human Hands," while doing research at the
University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. This book provided background and knowledge to create
Southeastern pottery.

Mitchell became an authority on Southeastern and Eastern Woodlands art.
"I try to follow as much as possible what my ancestors did," she said.

She decorates her pottery with leaves and other ornaments, which are placed on the outside of her
pottery before firing. She has also created her own unique fired-clay stamps, which she uses to stamp
different designs on her pottery before firing. Central American Indians used similar stamps, she said.

She shows her creations at various art markets and has been traveling to the popular Santa Fe Art
Indian Market in Santa Fe, N.M., for the last 14 years.

In 1982, then-Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh, named Mitchell an Ambassador of Goodwill for the state
because of her pottery work. "Things just happened" after that she said. She and other Oklahoma
artists were invited to the Smithsonian's annual Folklife Festival the same year.

A few years later, the Cherokee Nation named her a Living Treasure, and in 1988 a bronze likeness of
her was dedicated at the annual Northeastern State University Indian Symposium to commemorate the
150th anniversary of the Trail of Tears. She was featured in a book by Lois Sherr Dubin entitled
"North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment from Prehistory to the Present" in 1999. The book
featured Indian artists from throughout the country, and Mitchell was featured in the Oklahoma and
the Southeast artists section.

All of these honors do not include the numerous awards she has won for her pottery over the years. She
has placed in all pottery categories or has received honorable mention at the Santa Fe Indian Market
each of the 14 years she has attended, which is no small feat considering the number of skilled pottery
makers in the Southwest.

"I've received honors for something I really enjoy doing," she said.

Mitchell is hopeful the pottery making she reclaimed from her studies will continue with the next
generation. She has taught pottery in schools through the Title IV Indian Education Program and has
been a cultural consultant at times. She has taught apprentices over the years, first a nephew who will
attend Yale University next year to study medicine, and Cherokee artist Jane Osti, who is now a
well-respected artist herself. Mitchell has also shared her artistic skills with her daughter Victoria
Vazquez-Mitchell, of Welch, Okla., who, in the two years she has concentrated on pottery, is beginning
to win awards for her own creations. She won a third place ribbon for one of her pieces at last year's
Santa Fe Indian Market.

"I want students to learn culture when I am teaching them. I insist they learn it. They all have,"
Mitchell said.

"She's easy to learn from, she's a very patient person," Vazquez-Mitchell said. "If you really want to
do this it takes patience and some skill. It's not something you do in a hurry."

What started from a lump of clay from a pond has opened many doors for Anna Mitchell. As much as
she enjoys creating art and learning more about her culture, she cherishes the things that have come
with being a recognized artist.

"It's been the most wonderful adventure because I've met other people I never would have met
otherwise. I've also met people from so many other tribes and got a chance to get to know other artists,"
she said. (from: http://www.cherokee.org/Phoenix/XXVno2_Spring2001/ArtCulturePage.asp?ID=1)

Anna Sixkiller Mitchell
Cherokee Master Potter and National
Treasure

In honor of, and with respect for, Anna Mitchell, Jane Osti and all Cherokee potters striving to
keep this great segment of our culture, art and humanities vital and alive

Are you considering
purchasing Cherokee Fine
Art Pottery?
Let us introduce you to the
most accomplished and
valued artist in our
Cherokee community...
Click on the link below, and
send us an email:
cherokeepottery@cherokee
humanities.com