Rachel and Eric on mon 29 sep 97
Given the enthusiasm with which the Oaxacan Pottery workshop has
been recieved, I will be offering a second session. It will run January
12-17 1998. The first session also still has a couple openings. It runs Dec.
29, 1997-Jan.3 1998. Please read on for details.
I)THE POTTERY OF OAXACA
II)OAXACAN POTTERY WORKSHOP
I)THE POTTERY OF OAXACA
The workshop will take place in Oaxaca state in southern Mexico. There
are more than a dozen ancient pottery villages spread throughout the
mountains and valleys of Oaxaca. The work of each village is distinct in
building technique, color, form and texture. (pots are variably burnished,
slipped, stained with oak bark dye, jet black from smoking in sunken kilns,
wildly colored by the play of fire on clay, etc.) These distinctions result
from variations in local clays, regional adaptations and idiosyncracies
developed through the millennium.
All the pottery is low fire and hand built using construction
methods based on minimal mechanical assistance. Common tools are gourd
pieces, corn cobs and smooth stones. It is a very high degree of skill and
centuries of accumulated knowledge that lets the potters create these
amazing pots.
The pottery of Oaxaca is working, indigenous pottery, the work of
the Zapotec, Mixtec, Trigue, Ayuuk, Amuzgo, and Nahuatl peoples who quietly
carry on this humble and very ancient trade. This pottery traces it's roots
directly back to the rise of the first agrarian communities in Oaxaca some
4,000 years ago, surviving the rise and fall of ancient empires, conquest
and revolution and flickering on into the 21st century.
The motivation in creating this workshop is to share the world of
the Oaxacan potter and her incredible wealth of knowledge with avid students
of pottery. I believe there is much a modern potter can learn from the
artisans of this ancient trade. The potters who will be teaching this
workshop are, in essence, the original potters: the makers of absolute
utilitarian pottery within a tradition unbroken since the first combining of
clay, water and fire. Experiencing the roots of pottery offers a better
understanding of our own process and place as a potter, as well as a deeper
appreciation for humble clay. I also know that the potential intensity of
this experience can significantly influence the course of potter's study and
work.
In addition, it is my profound hope that through exposing this
almost unknown tradition to the eyes and minds of many, the Oaxacan potters
will begin to be recognized for their skills and wonderful work, and as
such, among themselves begin to understand and appreciate the value of their
own work. This recognition and pride should help to encourage the youngsters
of Oaxaca to pick up the clay and carry the torch.
II) OAXACAN POTTERY WORKSHOP.
6 DAYS TOTAL. SIZE LIMIT 7. 1st session DECEMBER 29TH,1997-JANUARY
3RD, 1998
2nd session JANUARY 12TH-JANUARY 17TH,
1998
Workshop cost is $440. This includes workshop fee, all
materials,hotel for seven nights (single occupany except, in the village)
and most meals.
Four days of the workshop will be spent in the old Zapotec potting
village of San Marcos Tlapazola in the central valley of Oaxaca. This is a
village of potters who's techniques are pre-Colombian, uninfluenced by the
conquest of the Spanish in the 16th century or by the strong tide of the
industrial world.
For these fpur days we will be staying in the village.We will spend
the majority of our time with one family, experiencing the rhythm of a
potters life and learning some of her ancient methods. We will begin by
gathering and preparing our clay. Then we will do our best to learn the San
Marcos hand building technique.
These pots are quickly hand built from a solid cone of clay, using a
corn cob as a sort of rolling pin and a piece of gourd for shaping out the
pot. No form of wheel or lazy susan is used, rather, the point of the cone
rotates as the potter works, in a shallow divot in the floor. We will do our
best to learn this fascinating technique, forming, scraping, slipping and
burnishing our pots. Our visit to San Marcos will close with a traditional
bon firing of the pots.
Our teachers in San Marcos will be Alberta and Dorotea Sanchez, and
Macrina Mateo. These three Zapotec potters are from families that have been
potting for centuries and are highly skilled. They have been recognized
statewide and nationally for their work and have been instrumental in
bringing San Marcos pottery to a wider audience. In a village of skilled
potters their work stands out for its beauty and quality.
The additional two days will be spent visiting two other valley
pottery villages, San Bartolo Coyotepec, and Santa Maria Atzompa where we
will see two very different styles of pottery being produced. In both of
these villages we will see pottery rooted in, but departing from, the
traditional/functional and becoming anything from gaudy to absolutely
spectacular.
In San Bartolo Coyotepec the potters create highly burnished, jet
black pots. These pots are fired in sunken kilns and blackened in a
reduction firing. Here we will visit Leopoldo Barranco, the last traditional
potter in Coyotepec. We will also visit Rosario Diaz, a potter doing the
slicker, decorational pottery that has become standard here in the last 40
years.
In Santa Maria Atzompa we will visit the Doloras Porras family and
see their glazeware, both functional and wildly decorational. This family
has had a huge impact on Atzompa pottery through their design and glaze
work. We will also visit Angelica Vasquez, a sculptural artist, who is
arguably one of the most inspired artists in Mexico today.
I run an organization called Manos de Oaxaca, dedicated to helping
in the survival of indigenous Mexican pottery. I have worked in southern
Mexico with potters in over a dozen villages for the last seven years.
Before that I studied ceramics at Humboldt State University where I received
my B.A. in Fine Arts. I also enjoyed the opportunity of working a semester
with the skilled Pueblo traditionalist potter, Mary Lewis, in Acoma Pueblo,
New Mexico. I will be organizing, coordinating and translating for the
group(for your sake, hopefully not cooking).
PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS.
Sincerily y attentamente,
Eric Mindling
Eric Mindling & Rachel Werling
Manos de Oaxaca
AP 1452
Oaxaca, Oax.
CP 68000
M E X I C O
http://www.foothill.net/~mindling/
telefax (951) 3-6776
email: rayeric@antequera.com
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