Norman Lansing is one of the leading contemporary Native American Indian scraffito artists. By delicately incising, or carving, his spiritually inspired art work, on hand-molded pottery pieces, Norman Lansing creates his collectable and dramatic pottery.

Mr. Lansing, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe, has been the deserving recipient of blue ribbon awards in showings of his pottery in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma and California. Among his proudest achievements is his recognition by the Indian Arts and Crafts Association for his outstanding work. Recent years have yielded contact from numerous art publications seeking interviews for feature stories.

The uniqueness of Norman Lansing's work is found in his extraordinary precision and creativity. Lansing layers his paint on a pottery surface and with the delicate touch of a master, he carves through one layer. "If you see the white pottery surface where it's not obviously intended, a mistake has been made," he says. In the unlikely event a piece does not convey the spirituality Norman intends, he will destroy the piece, concluding the "spirits are not balanced."

Mr. Lansing's pottery works are, indeed, pieces of discovery as he 'hides' imagery of his Indian heritage in each piece. The elements of nature, buffalo, ram, lizard, insect, lighting, cloud, mountain and more adorn his work. Mr. Lansing notes that the clay surface is "his canvas" for each piece is a unique original, titled and signed by the artist. In December 1993 Mr. Lansing began carving a buffalo and moon on the bottom of each finished piece. The buffalo is significant. In great measure it signifies life, for food, clothing tools and shelter. Norman Lansing's pottery art pieces, in turn, nourish the creative spirit of appreciation in us all.

Artist profile provided by Mesa Verde Pottery, Cortez, CO

Norman Lansing Tribute Links