BajaNomad

Potter extraordinaire Juan Quezada

wilderone - 5-31-2010 at 11:32 AM

Juan Quezada of Mata Ortiz fame, at Cueva de las Ollas


BajaBruno - 5-31-2010 at 02:58 PM

Well wilderone, I'm afraid the ignorant need a little more information. I had no idea about the man or the town (which I first thought was his mother's name), so I had to do a little looking to see if this was just an ugly wine cellar or something of interest.

Turns out, for the few Nomads who are as uninformed as me, that this fellow is quite a star in the art pottery world. Here are some links, for the rest of the story that wllderone left out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Ortiz
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/mexico403/thestory...
http://www.bigworldmagazine.com/a-miracle-in-mata-ortiz/

The Cueva de las Ollas is an entirely different Google search, but also interesting.

Forgive me if I am the only one who doesn't know about these people and places.

wilderone - 5-31-2010 at 04:06 PM

sorry - there was a discussion about a week ago about Mata Ortiz pottery and Juan Quezada, when a poster inquired about their trip to Copper Canyon. I was very fortunate to have been able to spend a week with Juan learning pottery techniques, camping, and exploring in the Sierra Nevada with him, some of his family and others in a group. That smaller Anasazi ruin structure is among several at the ruins site. Here's the main cave:


BajaBlanca - 5-31-2010 at 04:09 PM

the pottery is indeed exquisite and altho we really were too afraid to go all the way to mata ortiz, and also learned that this was a place and not a person only 3 weeks ago .... the pottery is available in many stores in Creel and the price varies according to the detail of design etc.

wildrone

DianaT - 5-31-2010 at 04:56 PM

That is so great that you were able to spend time with the Master---how wonderful. It has been a few years, so I think it is time for another trip down there.

We do have the signed lithograph from the master, but none of his pots. The closest we have is this one we bought in Mata Ortiz that was made by one of his nephews, Damian



I mentioned before that we did have the pleasure of meeting Walter Parks, the author of The Miracle of Mata Ortiz once when we were there. This is one of the younger potter's he suggested. She lives in Barrio Porvenir and studied with the master.

Lila Silveira



We timed it a little wrong as when we went to meet her, many of her best pots had been taken by her sister to San Diego for a showing---and selling.

And I forgot the name of this gentleman, but he said that he does not make pots, but does the sanding for several other potters. I need to write everything down so I do not forget and we met him on two different trips.



What a great place---but we never did get to meet the master.

[Edited on 5-31-2010 by DianaT]

wilderone - 5-31-2010 at 05:05 PM

"so I think it is time for another trip down there. "

oooo - me too!! A group in the making here?