Garnet Pavatea was born in Hano at the foot of Hopi First Mesa in 1915. Her mother was Tewa, her father Hopi. Myrtle Young was her sister. They grew up surrounded by some of the finest Hopi-Tewa potters of the time. Garnet began producing pieces for the marketplace around 1946. She made pottery almost constantly from then until she passed on in 1981.

Garnet married Womak Pavatea and they had a daughter, Wilma Rose Pavatea. Wilma learned how to make pottery from Garnet and produced miniature jars for about ten years, from around 1950 to around 1960.

Garnet made pottery in all kinds of shapes and sizes, both redware and yellowware. She was fond of adding corrugation to her pieces, a style found mainly on ancient San Juan Redware and Kayenta pots. She made a lot of red bowls with bands of corrugation around their shoulders. She often accompanied the bowls with matching ladles.

Garnet demonstrated her method of pottery making at the Museum of Northern Arizona regularly for many years. During her career she entered more than 400 pieces in juried competitions at the Museum of Northern Arizona's Hopi Artist Exhibition and earned at least 139 ribbons.

Some Exhibits that featured works by Garnet

• Elegance from Earth: Hopi Pottery. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. March 24, 2012 to April 6, 2014
• Home: Native Peoples in the Southwest. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. Opened in May 2005
• Every Picture Tells A Story. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. September 20, 2002 to May 2005
• Following the Sun and Moon: Hopi Katsina Dolls. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. January 12, 1995 to August 1, 1997