Lucy Leuppe McKelvey
Lucy Leuppe McKelvey is a self taught Navajo potter who received a little help from Hopi-Tewa friends. It has taken her 30 years to learn to make her beautiful pottery and is glad that all of her daughters are fine potters in their own right – and that one of them is taking it up as a career even though she has a college degree.
She has been trying to make Navajo pottery evolve up into a fine art going up and above tradition while still using native techniques and home refined materials that are all natural. Most of the designs are adapted from Navajo sand painting designs, rug and basket designs, and the ancient pottery designs from the ancient ruins that are so numerous in the area that she grew up in.
Source: Historic Cameron Trading Post
Whirling Rainbow Goddesses of Windway Chant
Artist: Lucy Leuppe McKelvey
Description: Clay Pottery | Dimensions: 7”h x 12”d
Following her service as an LDS missionary for the Southwest Indian Mission working with her own people, Lucy Leuppe McKelvey graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Elementary Education and Indian Studies. Subsequently she taught for many years on the Navajo Reservation, kindergarten through Junior High, and participated as an artist in residence at elementary schools in the Four Corners area.
Primarily a self-taught potter, McKelvey has spent nearly forty years working to elevate Navajo pottery making into a fine art form that goes beyond tradition yet still uses traditional native materials and methods. She is known for making large, polychrome pots in a variety of shapes that are painted with extraordinary detail. Most of McKelvey’s work tells a story and contains design inspiration from the ancients, ceremonial sand paintings, baskets, and rugs which are then creatively and uniquely made her own. During the last few years, she has reduced the number of shows in which she participates and primarily attends Santa Fe and Heard Museum Indian Markets as well as the Totah Festival (Farmington NM).
Mother Earth & Father Sky
Artist: Lucy Leuppe McKelvey
Description: Pottery | 10"h x 10"d
“The whole philosophy of Navajo culture is one of beauty and harmony. That is what I am doing with my pots; this is what my girls are doing. We are creating Navajo beauty from Navajo materials. Everything you see on a pot has come from Mother Earth, from the clay to the paint - everything. The pots don’t look like traditional Navajo pots, but the uses for those are not needed as much today. There is always a need for beauty, especially Navajo beauty,” shared Lucy Leuppe McKelvey.
