Aaron Cajero was born in 1966 into the Jemez Pueblo.  He is a member of the Fire Clan.  He began working with clay art in 1993.  He learned the traditional way of hand coiling pottery using ancient methods from the members of his family.  They taught him all the fundamentals of working with clay art forms.  

 

Aaron was quoted as saying:  “I enjoy working with pottery because it’s an expression of how I feel about the beauty in nature and Native American arts using all natural materials which mother earth has blessed us with.” 

 

Aaron specializes in a very unique style of pottery which a contemporary hand polished style.  He harvests his natural slips and clumps of raw clay from within the Jemez Pueblo. He breaks down the clumps of clay and adds sand to temper the clay and hand mixes with water and begins the hand coiling process the traditional way, which is rolling out the moist clay into snake like coils.

 

Once his vessels are formed he sets them out to dry. When his pieces are fully dried Aaron sands the vessels for a smooth finish. He hand carves various designs such as: bears, feathers, eagles, and serpents known as Avanyu’s which are believed to protect Pueblo People. He stone polishes his pieces to give them a beautiful shine. Aaron also fires his pottery the traditional way, outdoors with cedar woodchips.  His pottery is signed as:  Aaron Cajero, Jemez.

 

Aaron is a very accomplished potter and over the years has won several awards for this work.