Bookshelf

Maria, by Richard L. Spivey. Northland Publishing, 1989. 176 pages. $45.00, hardcover; $21.95, softcover.

This revised and expanded edition of Richard Spivey's retrospective of Maria Martinez commemorates “the most famous Indian artist of all time” and the ceramic treasures she created.

An authority on contemporary Pueblo Indian pottery, Spivey studied Native American arts with Maria's son, Popovi Da. The student soon focused on Maria and her pueblo, San Ildefonso. Spivey has served as judge for many Indian festivals and arts and crafts shows, and is a board member and consultant for several museums.

The author says Maria is neither a biography nor a technical essay on Pueblo pottery; yet in these pages Maria the potter is ever a strong presence, and the chronology of her art is expertly detailed.

In 1907 Maria's husband, Julian, was hired to help in excavating a prehistoric Pueblo site. Maria showed keen curiosity about the numerous sherds uncovered by the workers. The director of the dig encouraged her to try to duplicate the polychrome with its sophisticated designs.

Her later refinements of the black-on-black pottery brought major acclaim. From the ancient broken sherds came a creative period spanning seven decades. Maria led Native American pottery out of the wilderness of curios. Her work and that of other fine potters was soon recognized as an art form.

Complementing the author's intriguing text are 60 color photographs and 40 halftones. Many of the historic photographs are contributed by Laura Gilpin. Jerry Jacka, one of the West's finest color photographers and himself a collector of Native American pottery, provided the color plates.

Never Walk When You Can Ride, by Mike McFarland. Northland Publishing, 1989. 142 pages. $11.95, softcover.

In this single-focus book, the what, where, when, and how of the breed are related with wit by a genuine cowpoke. Adding to the charm of the author's adventures and observations are 43 illustrations by Joe Beeler, another genuine article.

McFarland never worked for Ma-and-Pa spreads. He cowboyed for “big outfits.” Never Walk When You Can Ride is as authentic as a sweat-stained Stetson and as appealing as a Dutch oven biscuit.

Cactus and Pine, by Sharlot Hall, 1989. 250 pages. $22.00, hardcover; $15.00, softcover.

Poems of a Ranch Woman, by Sharlot Hall, Sharlot Hall Museum Press, 1989. 145 pages. $18.00, hardcover; $12.00, softcover.

It was the poetry Sharlot Hall wrote, telling the stories and moods she knew in early Arizona, that first made her name known far beyond its borders. After her death in 1943, she came to be better known for the museum she had created.

The first book of poetry, Cactus and Pine, went into its second edition two decades before she died, yet Poems of a Ranch Woman was not compiled and published until seven years after her death. She had put her poetry aside to spend her hours preserving and protecting the Arizona memorabilia she had saved for future generations. When Sharlot died, others carried the museum forward, but the poetry was more personal.

Now, after 60 years of the museum's progress, Cactus and Pine and Poems of a Ranch Woman are both available in the original designs. Sharlot's verse tells of the land as it once was. Her eloquent poem “Arizona” was read from the floor of the U.S. Congress; it surely influenced the decision to provide for a referendum on whether Arizona should be admitted to the Union as a separate state or with New Mexico as a single entity. (The vote for separate status was overwhelming.) “Juan of the Slag Pots,” “Two Bits,” and “The Old Cow Men's Parade” are among the many poems in these two welcome reprints that bring to us again the genius of a lonely woman.

(RIGHT) “The Emergence of the Four Clowns,” by Roxanne Swentzell; ceramic clay figures ranging from 7 to 23 inches in height. A member of a Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, family spanning five generations of potters, sculptors, architects, and educators, Swentzell embodies her ceramic figures with human characteristics. These clowns, or kosharis, symbolize the four directions; they are part of the Heard Museum's permanent collection. SEAN BRADY (BACK COVER) Tony Sosa, member of a Phoenix family of charro performers, jumps through a lariat loop from the back of his standing horse. To complete the maneuver, he must land deftly on his feet on the horse without falling to the ground. JAY DUSARD