Tina Garcia

Santa Clara Pueblo

Tina Garcia
Tina Garcia

Tina Garcia was born in Oregon in 1957. Her mother, Lydia Tafoya, was from Santa Clara Pueblo, her father, Santiago Garcia, was from San Juan Pueblo. They returned to Santa Clara Pueblo when Tina was five and for the rest of her youth, she was surrounded by some of the finest traditional pueblo potters on Earth. Her grandmother was Severa Gutierrez Tafoya, her aunt Angela Baca, and between them and her mother, she was producing black ware on her own by the time she was eleven.

In 1980, Tina decided she wanted to be a potter full time so she studied the collections at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe. Then she made a decision to create the traditional classic shapes of Santa Clara pottery without the carving that was being done by most Santa Clara potters at that time. She has now and then used the bear paw imprint in her pottery but generally her pots are red ware or black ware, classic shapes and undecorated. She was also very good at making large pots, up to 25 inches in height and/or diameter.

Tina earned the Best of Division award at the Santa Fe Indian Market in 1986 and again in 1996. While most of her other ribbons were blue, she took home some award nearly every time she went to Santa Fe Indian Market. Tina died in 2005.


Bear paw imprint on a polished red jar
Polished red jar with bear paw imprint 8.25 in H by 8 in Dia
Fluted rim on a polished black jar
Polished black jar with a fluted rim
6.5 in H by 6.5 in Dia
Large red gourd pot polished
Polished large red gourd pot
12.5 in H by 14.25 in Dia
Polished red jar with a double shoulder
Double-shouldered polished red jar
6.25 in H by 4.75 in Dia
A fluted rim on a tall red jar
Tall red jar decorated with a fluted rim
8.75 in H by 8.5 in Dia
Plain black miniature jar
Plain miniature black jar
1.75 in H by 2 in Dia
Two-tone bowl
Plain two-tone bowl
4.25 in H by 7 in Dia
Three bear paw imprints on a red jar
Red jar with three bear paw imprints
8 in H by 8.5 in Dia
Red water jar with a pie crust rim Red water jar decorated with a pie crust rim
11.25 in H by 12.75 in Dia
Red jar with a bear paw imprint
A bear paw imprint in a red jar
3.5 in H by 4 in Dia

Santa Clara Pueblo Potters