Tom Vail Family Navajo Horse Hair Pottery:

The Vail Family is well known for their contemporary style of pottery known as "Horse Hair". Tom Vail married into the Navajo Nation. He, along with his children William "Skeeter" Vail, Loveitha Vail-Sanchez, and their spouses Geraldine Vail and Ray Sanchez produce this style of pottery. Tom was born in 1933. Skeeter was born in 1961, his wife, Gerie, was born in 1960 and Loveitha was born in 1967.

They pour a ceramic white slip substance into a mold and it form itself into whatever shape they decide to make. Then, they pour out the excess slip and let it set to dry. The ceramicware is then cleaned and polished. They heat up the ceramicware in a kiln and then randomly toss authentic hair taken from the maine (thin lines) or the tail (thick lines) of a horse on the heated pottery. The resulting carbon is drawn into the surface of the pottery which creates the unique designs and patterns. Finally, they clean the finished pottery with a dry material and the finished product is a unique, marblized flare styled pot ( or other shape). This process of art is very hazardous and time consuming. When asked why they do this they all agreed and replied, "We enjoy not knowing what designs will form on the pot itself after the horse hair has burned into the pot."

They sign their pottery as:
Skeeter & Gerie Vail, Vail, Vail Sr., and Loveitha Vail-Sanchez.

I am happy to feature many pieces of horse hair pottery work by Tom Vail and his family, as well as other Native American artists.  You can see each horse hair pottery piece, including those by the Vail Family here!