Suzanne Storer on sat 7 feb 98
Hola clay people,
I've recently returned from Eric Mindling's workshop in Mexico and would
like to let you all know what a fine time it was. I've been off the
listserve for some time so forgive me if this is repetitive. For 3 and 1/2
days seven of us gringos, all from Clayart, worked side by side with several
women at their family home/compound in their small village of San Marcos
learning to do it the Zapotec way. Our shared love of working with clay
lead to a quick rapport. Eric's understanding of their culture and his
friendships with these women allowed us to ease into a pattern of being
there that facilitated learning and joy on many levels.
Mama, Macrina and Alberta created finely formed and burnished thin walled
red clay ollas and comals (2 1/2' wide thin curved platters) used for
cooking liquids and tortillas that rest on the cooking fire. I gained a
great respect for their ways of working passed down generation to
generation, their ancestors having slowly refined or modified this detail or
that. The importance of posture and the position of my own body in relation
to my hands working the clay was made obvious again when it became apparent
that it was impossible to mimic these women's hand movements and do what
they do without being able to sit on the ground as they do and work with
their body weight over the clay.
Working solo as a studio potter I've wondered for years what it would have
been like to have grown up as a potter within a family of potters. In this
country so many of us seem to have been bred to strike out on our own and
carve out a course for ourselves irrespective of family interests or ties.
Now I've a better idea what in part has been sacrificed and what has been
gained by doing so.
Soooo, I would highly recommend any future workshops Eric Mindling comes up
with. For being only the second workshop he has created, this workshop was
well planned and carried out making for an ease of travel and transition
from one culture to another. What better way to be instantly grounded in
another culture than to be digging up clay in the nearby countryside within
24 hours of arriving in Mexico.
Suzanne-in-Utah
Where are the crowing roosters? Where are the palm trees? What's all this
cold white stuff lying around?
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