Snowflake Flower, Cochiti Pueblo Frog Storyteller

Stephanie C. Rhoades, “Snowflake Flower”, was born in 1931 into the Cochiti Pueblo. She was inspired to continue the family tradition of pottery making by her Grandmother, Estephanita Herrera, who also made clay sculptures and coiled pottery. She has been making traditional storytellers and sculptures since 1977.

Snowflake Flower specializes in handmade storytellers and clay sculptures made from Mother Earth. She digs up her own red clay and white sand from a sacred ground within the Cochiti Pueblo. She then combines the sand with the clay and hand shapes all of her sculptures. Immediately after this process the pottery is then left out to dry, where upon, she sands off the rough edges with sand paper. She uses a natural white slip paint made from the red clay. Wild spinach provides the black colored paint used on her pottery. She fires her pottery the traditional way, outdoors, with cedar wood chips and manure. Snowflake Flower signs her pottery as: Snowflake Flower, Cochiti NM, followed by the title of the figurine.
(https://www.pueblodirect.com/pages/stephanie-rhoades-snowflake-flower, May 2020)