Francis Suina, Cochiti Pueblo Potter

Frances Naranjo Suina (c. 1910s-1980s) was a distinguished potter of Cochiti and San Ildefonso Pueblo heritage whose artistic career spanned over five decades, from the 1930s through the 1980s. Orphaned before her first birthday, Frances was the youngest of five daughters born to Juan Roybal, a celebrated painter from San Ildefonso Pueblo.

Coming of age during the Great Depression, Frances persevered by creating pottery, mastering traditional Puebloan techniques that she faithfully maintained throughout her lifetime. She remained committed to authentic methods, hand-sourcing natural clay and using hand-cut yucca leaf brushes to execute her fine detail work.

Frances was celebrated for her diverse mastery of traditional forms and figurative pottery. Her portfolio included traditional polychrome jars and bowls, as well as expressive Storyteller figurines, Nativities (nacimientos), angels, whimsies such as pigs, and intricate miniatures.

Her profound creative legacy lives on through a prolific family line of acclaimed potters. She was the mother of renowned potter Louis Naranjo and Sarah Suina (among four other children), mother-in-law to Virginia Naranjo, and grandmother to artists Mary Edna Trujillo and Pauline Naranjo.

Reference: Southern Pueblo Pottery: 2,000 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf.

TAGS: Cochiti Pueblo, Storyteller figurines, Louis Naranjo, Virginia A. Naranjo; Pauline Naranjo, San Ildefonso Pueblo, pottery