Westly Begaye was born in 1965 into the the Navajo Nation. He
later married into the Acoma Pueblo and was inspired to continue
the family tradition of working with clay from the late Marie
Francis Vallo (wife).
Marie taught Westly all the
fundamentals of hand coiling Acoma styled pottery. He was also
inspired by another fine artist by the name of Jorome Tiger,
a Native American artist from Oklahoma, who is a fine painter.
Westly has been working with
art since the age of 12. However, he has been working with pottery
since 1994.
He specializes in the handmade
and hand painted Acoma style of pottery. However, he combines
a contemporary flare to his pottery. He paints many different
traditional designs, kokopelli (god of fertility), animals, and
mimbres designs. He works with handmade pottery and ceramic pottery.
Westly’s experience with
crossing cultures and continuing to invent new ideas has established
him as a fine artisan. He signs his pottery as: Westly Begaye,
title of pottery, and year when it was constructed. He is related
to Arthur C. Begay who is a Navajo painter.
Awards:
-New Mexico State Fair 1st Place
-Many Others
