Jemez Pueblo

Aaron Cajero is a full blooded Native American Indian. He was born in 1966 into the Jemez Pueblo. Aaron is a member of the Fire Clan. He began working with clay art in 1993. He learned the traditional way of hand coiling pottery using ancient methods by the members of his family. They taught him all the fundamentals of working with clay artforms. Aaron was quoted as saying:

“I enjoy working with pottery because it’s an expression of how I feel about the beauty in nature and native American arts using all natural materials with mother earth has blessed us with.”

Aaron specializes in a very unique style of pottery which is a contemporary hand polished style. He harvests his natural slips and clumps of raw clay from within the Jemez Pueblo. He breaks down the clumps of clay and adds sand to temper the clay and hand mixes with water and begins the hand coiling process the traditional way, which is rolling out the moist clay into snake like coils. Once his vessels are formed he sets them out to dry. Once his pieces are fully dried Aaron sands his vessels for a smooth finish. He hand carves various designs such as: bears, feathers, eagles, and serpents known as Avanyu’s which are believed to protect Pueblo People. He stone polishes his pieces to give it a beautiful shine. Aaron also fires his pottery the traditional way, outdoors with cedar woodchips. He signs his pottery as: Aaron Cajero, Jemez. He is related to: Joe Cajero (father), Esther Cajero (mother), Joe, Jr., Cajero (brother), Joetta Cajero, Loretta Cajero (sisters), Anita Cajero (spouse), Teri Cajero (daughter), and Aaron Cajero, Jr. (son).

Awards:
-Santa Fe Indian Market 1st Place 2000
-Santa Fe Indian Market 2nd Place
-Santa Fe Indian Market 3rd Place
-Santa Fe Indian Market Honorable Mention

Publications:
-Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies