Lori Wilkinson on tue 2 apr 96
Who ever was looking for info on Mata Ortiz might try
http://www.goodnet.com/~mataort/
technq.htm
This sight is very informative, probably not as detailed as what you wanted
but it offers much more than most. Good luck.
Lori Wilkinson in Roswell NM where the temp. is great but the wind blew
hard enough today
to move my husbands bald
spot to the front of his head :-)
Jean Lutz on tue 27 jun 00
Someone recently inquired about Mata Ortiz.
Take a look at www.tourmataortiz.com and www.mrac.cc
Kurt Wild on tue 12 oct 04
Here is a part of what Don Goodrich wrote me off list and what I, in
turn, wrote back to him.
At 07:05 PM 10/12/04, you wrote:
>............... What I've seen of current MO work leads me to think the
>use of commercial materials may be justified for the more accomplished
>artists, the quality of whose work does not depend on the use of native
>materials nor traditional technique.
Don:
Thanks for the reply. I agree with your statement above and I sort of had
that feeling back when I visited in 1998 and saw the beginnings of what we
were pretty certain was the use of underglaze. So on the one had I agree
but part of me loves and admires the beautiful work created with the more
elementary materials and methods. I am torn between the two (the then and
now) and that is why I was curious to find out what others thought.
Kurt
John Rodgers on wed 13 oct 04
Kurt Wild wrote:
> Here is a part of what Don Goodrich wrote me off list and what I, in
> turn, wrote back to him.
>
> At 07:05 PM 10/12/04, you wrote:
>
>> ............... What I've seen of current MO work leads me to think the
>> use of commercial materials may be justified for the more accomplished
>> artists, the quality of whose work does not depend on the use of native
>> materials nor traditional technique.
>
This is interesting in that it seems to be happening with native groups
all over.
In my years in Alaska the grass basket weavers were principally the
Eskimo peoples of Alaska. Their baskets were exquisite, especially those
of the Yupik people of the Yukon and Kuskokwim River deltas. I still
have a few of those baskets I collected. The last couple of years
before I left the state I had begun to see Yupik baskets with plastic
grocery bags woven into the as decoration. It was really interesting to
see the adaptation of plastic materials into the native art in such
fashion. From my perspective, it was an expansion and exploration of the
materials of art, and also a solution for certain problems inherent in
grass basket making. The plastic did not make the baskets look as if
they had been mass produced in Manilla or somewhere. They were quite
beautiful. So, I se nothing wrong with this exploration of materials,
even for traditional native groups.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
Don Goodrich on wed 13 oct 04
Kurt,
Thanks for your thoughts. I hope others join in here, as it would be
good to get differing perspectives.
The use of non-traditional materials by the potters of Mata Ortiz may be
inevitable. As long as artists have a vision and seek to realize it,
they'll try to find what they need to do so. For example, this lovely olla:
http://dongoodrichpottery.com/mata/ollas5.jpg
may not have been possible using only native materials.
The artist in this picture
http://dongoodrichpottery.com/mata/fineline.jpg
uses a fine line brush made with eight hairs from the baby's head,
but they're mounted in what was a Bic pen.
For the black-on-black work, this same artist uses an intact ballpoint pen
to draw the initial lines for her designs. The lines are subsequently
painted with manganese, which IS a local material. If she used a pencil
instead, the manganese would fall off, as it won't stick to the graphite
from the pencil. It sticks just fine to the ballpoint ink.
The evolution of artistic tradition has happened in the pueblos of
New Mexico, where one can find pottery made and decorated using every
available technique including slipcasting and airbrushing. The collector or
student of traditional work must learn to see, and ask, what is being
offered by the artist.
In Mata Ortiz, as in the pueblos, what's being offered is the re-
creation of a tradition that had died out. As such, it's a synthesis from
old and new. They use metates to grind stones for pigments, but use
kerosene as a medium for that shiny-black graphite. The puki is made of
plaster.
The community of Mata Ortiz / Casas Grandes potters is still diverse
and healthy. Quality and tradition are still respected, and are freely
taught. Artists who choose to use native methods and materials are assured a
market for good work, and buyers have a lot to choose from.
It's when we no longer have a choice that we need to worry. Then we start
making our own, or give up and go to Walmart.
Cheers,
Don Goodrich
goodrichdn@aol.com
http://dongoodrichpottery.com/
Mike Gordon on wed 25 jan 06
John wrote
Here in Ensenada, the only workshops we get are families from Mata
Ortiz who come over and demonstrate their techniques in two-day
sessions which usually include a lesson in painting with a one-hair
brush and a cow-dung finring. When I asked about the one hair, the
father reached over and snatched one from his daughters head.
John,
This story was told to me by a vendor of Mata Ortiz pottery, that the
one hair should be from the nap of the neck of a young virgin. It
seemed like an old wives tale to help with the sale but maybe not. Mike
Gordon
John Connolly on wed 25 jan 06
In this case the young girl was about eight-years old.
One thing I did not mention, but find interesting is that often these families are four generations deep and all play some role in the pottery making process.
John Connolly in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Mike Gordon wrote:
John wrote
Here in Ensenada, the only workshops we get are families from Mata
Ortiz who come over and demonstrate their techniques in two-day
sessions which usually include a lesson in painting with a one-hair
brush and a cow-dung finring. When I asked about the one hair, the
father reached over and snatched one from his daughters head.
John,
This story was told to me by a vendor of Mata Ortiz pottery, that the
one hair should be from the nap of the neck of a young virgin. It
seemed like an old wives tale to help with the sale but maybe not. Mike
Gordon
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Kurt Wild on wed 25 jan 06
When I visited Mata Ortiz I was given a brush Carmen Veloz used on her
delicate pots.
It consists of four, one inch long, beautiful amber teenage young woman's
hair.
The hairs are so fine one needs to look carefully to see them.
Using that type of brush is a bit tricky. The entire length of hair is
laid on the pot and dragged along then,
at the end of the desired stroke, is lifted quickly.
Kurt
Joan Klotz on wed 25 jan 06
Well Mike, a few years back I was fortunate enough to participate in
a pottery workshop in Mata Ortiz with Juan Quezada himself. We all
made our own brushes from 5or 6 (not one) hairs from the head of
Juan's young grandaughter. She was about 10 years old and clearly
was used to donating to the brush making enterprise, tho she rolled
her eyes and looked a little bored with the process. The hairs
were not plucked but cut with scissors and Juan did not say anything
about virgins but he did claim that the hair from young children was the best.
Also the shiny black pots were created by firing the pots with dung
and by very carefully cutting off the air supply once the fire was
underway not by any tricks polishing with kerosene and soot. I saw
several other potters firing blackware and they got the black surface
the same way. The pots went into the firing burnished and came out
black and shiny. I heard (but did not see) that the black finish
could be reversed by refiring the pots in the presence of air.
Regards,
Joan Klotz, Venice, CA.
>John,
> This story was told to me by a vendor of Mata Ortiz pottery, that the
>one hair should be from the nap of the neck of a young virgin. It
>seemed like an old wives tale to help with the sale but maybe not. Mike
>Gordon
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.
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