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 Onlooker at the LaCarrera Panamericana, Zacatecas It was last year in October 2011, after I finished 7-days of chasing down vintage race cars over the Mexican landscape, that I saw the pottery of Jamie Ortiz. His work was on display at the offices and showroom of I.D.E.A.Z. (more on them and their respective counterparts later), along with some beautiful paper mache pieces that also caught my eye. I had wanted some of Jaime’s pots for last November’s opening of our gallery, and I tried getting the ball rolling, after-all I had an audience with the I.D.E.A.Z. director in her home n Zacatecas, is shouldn’t be too difficult.
It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when Victoria, Derek and I rolled through Zacatecas that the possibility of having some of Jaime’s pieces looked like it would become a reality. Although we went back to the I.D.E.A.Z. offices and met the director and her cohorts, it looked like the only way we were going to get his work back to Brooklyn was visiting the maestro himself. We cabbed it to the neighboring town of Guadalupe, found Jaime’s cluttered workshop and spent a few hours talking with him.
 Jaime Ortiz in his Workshop Unlike the finely detailed works that hail from the town Mata Ortiz, Jaime Ortiz’ work is decorated with very simplistic designs, yet his work shares something in common with the works from Mata Ortiz. The pieces have their roots imbedded in the ancient designs and methodology taken from excavated pieces of pottery in the surrounding hills. Jaime doesn’t have the fortune that the folks from Mata Ortiz have, but his works draw the attention of the eye as much as his counterparts to the northern state of Chihuahua do.
Maestro Ortiz is consumed with “other works” (pieces that are not necessarily intended for commercial purposes), as are so many of the artisanos we have met in Mexico. He was busy working on pots of a variety of size and shape when we met him in his studio; containers for Zacatecan “Mezcal”, small coin-looking discs for someone’s promotion of something-or-other, and tiny goblets used for the running of the Zacatecas Mezcal Burro, a lovely animal maned Irene who plies the streets on Zacatecas giving away free Mezcal to tourists.
But Jaime’s real passion is in the recreation of the lost and rediscovered, traditionally designed pottery, and that body of work has not gone unnoticed. His pieces are found in private collections throughout Europe, North and South America. Jaime is the recipient of numerous awards and recognition, but the accolades he receives for his research and replication of ancient design and techniques is what really fuels him. The Concurso Nacional de Artesania and Concurso Nacional de Adecuacion de Hornos Alfareros in Mexico City, Premio Nacional de las Ceramica in Jalisco to name a few of the entities who also recognize Jaime’s work.
 Standing on the Foundation In his workshop, Jaime stands upon the foundation of his career, hand made bricks that his grandfather fashioned from local materials. This would be his introduction to working with clay and working with his hands. We were pleased when we finally met with Jaime and discovered that, along with his constant work (for income), he was still quite devoted to his passion to recreate classical and traditional works from the area. Hopefully,we can help in his effort to keep alive these ancient designs and get him “off the pot” of mediocrity. We understand, like many Mexican artisans, first things first means you do what pays the bills, and that often means filling your time doing routine and mundane tasks that appeal to the general (and local) public, in which your real passions take a back seat.
We now have a few of Jaime’s pieces on display in our gallery, and we invite you to come and take a look, if for no other reason that appreciating his discipline and devotion. We look forward to working with Jaime.
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 Graphic design applied to a Mata Ortiz pot. If we were to purchase one pot from each potter in the small northern Chihuahuan dustbowl town named Mata Ortiz -even if we were to empty the gallery of all its current pieces- we would not have room to display everything we purchased. When we rolled into town Friday, we drove into Mata Ortiz right away, hoping to get a head-start on our search. With the assistant of a local cop (probably one of one), he directed us to the home of one potter, probably a relative of his. The other artisans would be found, we were told, by simply looking for a house that made and sold pots. But how? There was hardly anything that designated a house as one which produced and sold pottery.
We decided that we should contract the services of Diana Acosta Ramirez, proprietor of Agave Lindo Tours. We had contacted Diana weeks ago, we did a little back-and-forth with her via email, but after 30 minutes in town, we knew that having Diana guide us through and make some introductions for us was the right decision. Diana is a native and local from this part of Chihuahua, who started her tourism career at the age of seven, giving passers-by tours of her family hacienda in nearby Don Diego (if I remember correctly). Her love and passion for Mata Ortiz combined with her pride in her heritage and drive as an aspiring tour professional made for an exceptionally affordable experience as well as informative. Saturday we visited a number of homes and spoke with the artisans (usually husband and wife teams) as they invited us inside. Their “workshops” are usually their kitchen tables, their “kiln” is a fire outside in the back yard, their “showroom” is the living room.
With so much of the population of Mata Ortiz now making pottery, we were (and are) faced with the prospect of selecting a few artisans who’s work we can offer at Manos which will be representative of the work that comes from the town. Diana did her best to guide us to certain artisans based on our criteria, but after being in each home and seeing the work of (only) half-a-dozen or so artisans, there was a desire to purchase pottery from each person we visited. It seems that each artisan develops his or her style and design, most unique to the others yet all following a certain style. We did find a few people who we thought we’d like to work with, but at day’s end we realize that we could spend weeks here and still only see a portion of what is available.
 Juan Quezada in his showroom. Yesterday we visited a few more people, including Juan Quezada, the master of all master potters in Mata Ortiz and the man attributed with the literal resurrection of Mata Ortiz pottery. Frontline did a short piece back in 2005 about Juan, you can read and see the short video here, which resulted in spawning Scott Peterson’s 4-year film project, “The Renaissance of Mata Ortiz” (follow link to see trailer). The maestro was kind enough to see us on a Sunday morning, although he was busy collecting some materials for a few pots he was working on for his latest client, Toyota Corporation. That being said, the “showroom” at Juan’s home (seen in the background), which probably had well over 200-pieces on display had zero pieces (none) from the maestro himself, with the exception of a flawed piece to be had at a discount ($2000).
We had wanted at least one piece from Juan, not necessarily for sale at Manos, but just to have there on display, like a magnet attracting interested folk into coming by the gallery. But the maestro’s well earned international reputation keeps the availability short, and the price long. We’re still hoping to pick up one of his pieces, but that will have to wait.
Interestingly enough, parking outside the Quezada home sets off a signal, and by the time we were ready to leave (and this, after two of his sons were beaconed to come make their pitch) there was one old woman asking for coins and another potter patiently waiting to guide us to his home to see his work. Upon leaving that potters home, there was a display of pots sitting on a piece of cloth next to the Toyota, and another potter doing a drive-by asking that we follow him as well.
Eventually, we settled on a handful of pieces from a few artisanos. Good thing we didn’t load up wither, as the border agents (after sifting through my vehicle looking for “meat and vegetables”) said that they summarily destroyed any Mata Ortiz pots they determined were used for “commercial purposes”. All in all, I would say it was a success. I would imagine folks with an intimate knowledge of Mata Ortiz (the pottery and the town) would not completely agree with that assessment, but for a start, Victoria and I feel satisfied that we were able to (at least) get to this faraway (from Brooklyn or Oaxaca) town, meet a few people, and manage to start a dialogue.
Before too long, we’ll have some pieces on display at the gallery. We’ll be sure and post some images. For now, we’re enjoying thrift-shops in Sierra Vista (AZ), awaiting our appointment with the LandCruiser, and anticipating our drive back to Oaxaca via the Copper Canyon.
Saludos from the road…
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Don’t get me wrong, I love Oaxaca. But now that we’re on the road headed for the border (the long way, via Chihuahua into Arizona) and traveling through some of the other states on Mexico, I’m happy to be away from Oaxaca, for now. I feel that we may have become somewhat stuck in the whole Oaxacan folk-art scene while limiting ourselves to the other areas of Mexico that are as active (if not more) in traditional folk art. After-all, the Oaxacan artists have many “friends”, and we’ve even tried reaching out to some of the friends of ”Friends of Oaxacan Folk Arts”. We’ve not heard back from them with the exception of a few members who have stumbled across our Brooklyn gallery, in spite of similar desires and goals.
I’m now feeling as if we’ve squandered the time we’ve been here in Mexico, that perhaps we should have used that time exploring some of the other options and other states. But never mind should-have, here we are and we’ll make the best of things. The decision to pass the border in Chihuahua was arrived at specifically because we wanted to visit the tiny village of Mata Ortiz, which produces some absolutely beautiful pottery. This brings us through Puebla, Michoacán, on to Jalisco (where I write from now) and further north to Aguas Calientes and Zacatecas, then up to the border into Chihuahua. I’ve always had the intention of visiting Nayarit as well, even though our travels have taken us there in the past but prior to the beginning of Manos.
 Cooperage, Santa Clara de Cobre. The past few days on the road have been busy for us. Michoacán is an impressive state, and the few days here will hardly suffice, in the same way the short amount of time in Oaxaca (6+ months) has hardly allowed us to scratch the surface. Yesterday we drove to the small town of Santa Clara del Cobre -about half-way between Morelia and the coast- and visited a number of copper shops. One promising thing about purchasing copper is that the shipping process will not result in broken pieces. Our plan is to stop back here on our return to Oaxaca and “hammer out” a few details, make a decision as to which workshop we can deal with in the future, and eventually bring some of this beautiful work to our Brooklyn gallery. But again, we’re just breezing through, and this state has so many regional specialties that our brief time here will only reinforce the idea that we need more time.
 Martha Nares, Madame Catrina After Santa Clare del Cobre, we drove north to the town of La Piedad to visit Martha Nares. We have a number of Catrinas that Martha had made for us and we thought we should meet the woman and the hands behind this fabulous work.
We were welcomed into her home and taken to her work-space, a tiny room with Frieda memorabilia and references taped to the walls and a small table with paints and brushes. There, she showed us her current work and spoke (ever so softly) about her entry into the world of ceramics. She spoke of having first seen the Catrinas, and feeling compelled to do them justice. She explained that the first ones she saw didn’t quite do the job. With virtually no experience, she sought out and found a master ceramist and took-on as an apprentice. The master was pleased to have someone so talented and interested, as his own children wanted to pursue a future founded in higher-education. With Martha holding a degree in psychology, her mother looked on and listened to our conversation with a bit of dismay that her daughter would put her efforts into creating these beautiful works instead of plying her educational skills (oh the irony).
Martha’s love and passion for the Catrinas is evident in her work. We have seen make Catrinas done in this style (not sure what the name is), but we’ve seen none with the attention to detail as hers. Delicate and highly ornate, Martha has elevated the Catrina to a higher degree that is an expression of her passion, maybe even her feeling of kinship with them. Even though we didn’t visit her to order more pieces (hey, we’e only been open for a handful of days), I decided to have her complete one of her larger Catrinas for us, which we will pick up in a few weeks on our return from the border back to Oaxaca.
I believe Martha is a bit of an anomaly in La Pieded, as she says her hometown is mostly known for its consumption of beer than anything else. There is no artist community to speak of, the materials she desperately needs are difficult to get shipped in, and her finished works are even more difficult to get out. And while recent accolades have brought attention to her from as fer away as Spain, she has no method in place for getting her work packaged, shipped and delivered to a greater market. But we believe that Martha is so impassioned with her work that in spite of the challenges that stand in the way, she will eventually prevail.
We wil re-open our doors back in Red Hook shortly, and the fair weather should bring with it some curiosity-seekers who will wander into the gallery. As I told Martha, her work does not need to be pushed on anyone, that our job is simply to make her pieces accessible for people to look at and admire. Folks will connect with her work just as Martha herself connected with the Catrinas. Our doors will soon be opened down on Pier-41, this trip will add some more interesting pieces, and we hope that y’all find the time to think of us when gift-giving or decorating a room is on order.
In a few days, we’ll be in Mata Ortiz Chihuahua. Please stay tuned for the next update, when we show you this amazing pottery. Until then, keep good thoughts for us… the front axel and the la frontera, both call for vigilance. Below are a few images from the past few days.
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