Cherokee Nation
Jane Osti was born and raised in the Cherokee Nation but spent some time in California during adulthood. She returned to Oklahoma in the 1980s and pursued both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. While at NSU, she took a pottery and sculpture class to complete her degree. Since then, she has established herself as an award-winning artist with items sought after by both collectors and museums across the United States.
Jane met Cherokee artist Anna Belle Sixkiller Mitchell while she was attending NSU. Anna is widely credited with single-handedly reviving traditional pottery among the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. She was designated a Cherokee National Treasure for her pottery in 1988. Jane followed in the footsteps of her mentor when she became the second artist to receive the designation of Cherokee National Treasure for pottery in 2005.
Jane often uses hand-dug natural clay for her pieces. She uses wooden stamp paddles to incorporate texture and design and fires the pottery in a pit, just as her ancestors did.
Jane frequently teaches pottery workshops to preserve the pottery tradition among Oklahoma Cherokee.
“I’ve been told the most often used design in Southeastern pottery is the scroll, because we always lived by water. Our ancestors were so much more observant than we are today. They had time to observe the movement of the water and drew designs to indicate wind and water.” (from a 2016 interview with First Americans Art Magazine)
