Born in 1955 in Augusta Georgia, Richard Zane Smith is a contemporary potter whose pots consist of small hand rolled coils of natural clays inspired by prehistoric corrugated pottery of the Southwest.

Artist Statement:
"My art education began as a child at home in Missouri. In the evenings all five of us kids would gather round listening and drawing quietly while Dad or Mom would read wonderful books to us. Clay excited me from high school and all through my art school years though I enjoyed working with all kinds of natural materials, from leather to stone to wood. During these years, investigating my own native (Wyandot) roots became something of an obsession with me. In 1978, I worked as an art instructor at a Navajo mission school in Arizona. It was there that I was first exposed to native clays, and Anasazi pot sherds. Having a rich yet mixed-blooded heritage has been difficult for me at times to sort things out and it still provides its challenges. But I am actively involved with other Wendat/Wyandots who are restoring traditions and reviving our language. I have a dream to help restore to our people the pottery traditions of our ancestors as has happened among the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest."

Source:
Website of the Artist

The simple form pottery created by Richard Zane Smith is a blend of Southwestern and Northeastern regional tribal traditions. Smith draws upon the rich pottery traditions of the Southwest for his techniques, which include the use of natural clay and slips, hand-coiled forms, and prehistoric corrugated styles. He fuses these techniques with his Wyandot heritage to create pottery inspired by Northeastern baskets, the Oklahoma landscape, the physical and metaphysical presences of nature, and the echoing voices of his ancestors.

The shapes of his pottery encompass classic jars and bowls, along with more unconventional contours such as flowering plates and nests of bud clusters, which often incorporate bits of found stone and wood as accents. His choice of colors and his use of perspective for his patterns are intended to be vibrant yet subtle, with tonal variances juxtaposed within complex design sets.

Of great importance to Smith is that his pottery will continue to act as a point of inspiration and revitalization for his Wyandot community—each piece becoming a source of memory and renewal unto itself for numerous generations to come.