Russell Sanchez is a well-recognized artist from San Ildefonso. He learned to pot from his great aunt, Rose Gonzales. He has been awarded numerous awards including Best of Division in Santa Fe and Best of Division of Heard.

Sanchez uses native clay and, forms and fires his pots in the traditional manner. At the same time, he is known for being an innovator and he has spent his career experimenting with forms, designs, and materials.

This pot exemplifies all these features. The glow of the background slip sets off the naturalistic scenes of bears along with the juxtaposition of bears and hand images. To my eye, this is one of the most beautiful contemporary pots that I have seen.