Thomas Tenorio is from Santo Domingo Pueblo, also known as the Pueblo of Kewa, where he was given the name “U-Nah-Thee-Wah”. He has been making pottery for more than 20 years. Self taught, Thomas does vast amounts of research by reading textbooks and talking to his elders to perfect his skill. He has created his own contemporary style of pottery by initiating cut-out designs and adding new colors to Santo Domingo’s traditional style. All his natural materials come from Santo …
Thomas Tenorio is from Santo Domingo Pueblo, also known as the Pueblo of Kewa, where he was given the name “U-Nah-Thee-Wah”. He has been making pottery for more than 20 years. Self taught, Thomas does vast amounts of research by reading textbooks and talking to his elders to perfect his skill. He has created his own contemporary style of pottery by initiating cut-out designs and adding new colors to Santo Domingo’s traditional style. All his natural materials come from Santo Domingo and the surrounding area. His methods are also traditional and contemporary, he cleans, hand coils, hand mixes, shapes and fires his pottery outdoors while from time to time he will fire his pottery in a kiln. Thomas has won numerous 1st and 2nd place awards at the New Mexico State Fair, the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial and various shows through out Texas, Ohio, New York, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. He is also in several publications such as, “Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Bios” and “Pueblo and Navajo Contemporary Pottery”. The tribe of Santo Domingo sponsored Thomas to teach classes to any one who wanted to learn and carry on this long lived ancient tradition.
