Joy Navasie


Joy Navasie is a Pueblo potter. As well as the art of pottery, the name Frog Woman was passed down from her mother, Paqua Naha.
Navasie carries on the white ware pottery tradition from her mother, which she contends was developed around 1951 or 1952. She is particularly known for her black and red on white designs, and her favorite motifs include rain, clouds, parrots, and feathers. Her pots are signed with a frog—a hallmark she began around 1939. Her signature differs from her mother's in that it features web feet rather than short toes.
All Navasie's pottery is made the traditional way, from the gathering of the clay to the polishing and painting. Pots are fired in sheep dung, which she says is getting more difficult to acquire, but she prefers this over commercial products.
Navasie's pots can be found in a number of museums and have fetched high prices at auction, some over $1,000.