About the Artist

Birdell Bourdon, “Vine Flower,” was born in 1957 at the Santa Clara-Tewa Pueblo. Taught by her mother, the late Marie Sisneros, Birdell continues the family tradition of hand-coiling pottery using ancient, ancestral methods.

A potter since the age of 10, Birdell specializes in the hand-coiled Sanat Clara black polished pottery. Utilizing clay from the tribal pits within the Santa Clara Pueblo, she cleans, mixes, hand-coils, shapes and fires her pottery the traditional way - outdoors with saw dust. The sizes and shapes of her creations vary and sometimes include the melon form. A fine potter with well-crafted works, Birdell signs her pottery as: "Birdell, Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico".

The artist is cited in the following publications: Working with Clay, Collections of Southwest Pottery and Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies.