Rachel and Eric on fri 28 aug 98
Oaxacan Pottery Workshop and Tour
I)THE POTTERY OF OAXACA
II)OAXACAN POTTERY WORKSHOP
III)SIX VILLAGES POTTERY STUDY TOUR
I)THE POTTERY OF OAXACA
Spread throughout the broken terrain of Southern Mexico are dozens of
hidden villages of potters working quietly at their ancient trade, virtually
unknown to the outside world. This is the quiet, traditional, working
pottery of indigenous villages that have forever supplied their secluded
regions with needed pottery. The pottery of Oaxaca is directly rooted in the
rise of the first agrarian communities to develop in the central valleys
some 4,000 years ago. It has survived the rise and fall of ancient empires,
conquest and revolution and flickers on into the 21st century, the potters
doing their best in the face of competition from tin, plastic and aluminum.
The potters are Zapotec, Mixtec, Mehica, Mixe/Ayu'uk, and Popoluca potters.
Their humble, beautiful, backcountry pottery is an untold secret.
The pottery is low fire and hand built with a simplicity of tools balanced
by skill brought through centuries of experience. Building techniques,
firings, color, form and texture are different in each village. Centuries of
isolation, variations in local clays, and idiosyncracies developed through
the millennium have created a surprising and exciting variety of potteries.
These trips are offered to share the world of the Southern Mexican
potter and her incredible wealth of knowledge with students and pottery
fanatics. I believe there is much a modern potter can learn from the
artisans of this ancient trade. The potters who we will be working with and
visiting 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 this very deeply rooted 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 these
almost unknown traditions 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 in these changing times.
Both the workshop and study tour are purposefully limited to six
participants. As a small group we travel easily and do not overwhelm our
hosts, unaccustomed to foreigners. This makes for a very personal experience
giving everyone a chance to really take part in and see what is happening
and creates an atmosphere in which we can really get to know our teachers
and hosts.
II) OAXACAN POTTERY WORKSHOP.
6 DAYS. SIZE LIMIT 6.
Workshop dates,
1st session: December 14-19, 1998
2nd session: January 11-16, 1999
Workshop cost is $540. This includes workshop fee, all materials, hotel
for seven nights and most meals.
This is an intensive, hands in the clay workshop which will immerse
us into the pottery making and life of a small Zapotec village called San
Marcos Tlapazola in the central, high valley of Oaxaca. We will be staying
in this town for four and a half days following our teachers through the
process of creating a pot. Beginning by gathering and preparing clay, then
working our way through the unusual steps of this wheelless, ancient, hand
building technique, we will do our best to understand this challenging
method. On our last day we will fire our pots in the quick, surface bonfire
used in this village. With a little luck, when the coals burn down we will
have well formed, red slipped and burnished pots with wonderful flashing.
As we are learning our way through the hand building methods of our
teachers, we will also ease into the rhythm and peaceful pace of this
traditional, pre-industrial village. In our time in San Marcos we will
become familiar and comfortable with our hosts, working side by side with
them, sharing meals and stories.
Our teachers in San Marcos will be Alberta Sanchez and Macrina
Mateo. These two 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 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.
III) SIX VILLAGES POTTERY STUDY TOUR
8 DAYS, SIZE LIMIT 6
Study tour dates,
session 1: November 30th-December 7th, 1998
session 2: January 25th-February 1st, 1999
Cost $670 Includes hotel, most meals, museum fees and spectacular trip.
The Six Villages Pottery Study Tour takes us into the heart of the
southern Mexican backcountry.We will travel to six traditional pottery
villages. These villages, spread throughout Oaxaca and Puebla states, are
home to Zapotec, Mixe/Ayu'uk, Mixtec, Mestizo and Popoluca potters. We will
see the processes of clay preparation, a variety of hand building
techniques, as well as several distinct firing methods practiced in
different villages, from ground firing to extended reduction firings in
sunken kilns. The finishes given to the pots also vary from village to
village; red slipped, burnish pottery; rough textured, corn cob scraped
pottery; oak bark tannin dyed pots and jet black reduction ware. These
methods and techniques are pre-Colombian, ancient in their invention, quite
effective in their application. We will also visit several museums and
archeological sights to help us develop an understanding of the history of
the places and people we will be traveling amongst. Our base camp will be
the colonial city of Oaxaca. From here we will travel outward, progressively
further into the backcountry and into history with each successive village
we visit.
The potters who will be showing us their methods are traditional masters.
They are not school taught potters, their methods aren't known in books.
They are the inheritors of two hundred generations of clay knowledge passed
from grandmother to mother to daughter in an unbroken line since the first
mixing of water, fire and clay.
.
I run an organization called Manos de Oaxaca, dedicated to helping
in the survival of indigenous Mexican pottery. I have lived and worked in
southern Mexico with hundreds of potters in dozens of villages for the last
seven years. In these years I have developed stong ties and relationships
with the potters. Before dissapearing into southern Mexico I spent a
semester working with the skilled Pueblo traditionalist potter , Mary Lewis,
in Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico. I also got my B.A. fine arts (most of my time
in the pottery studio) from Humboldt State University. I will be organizing,
coordinating and translating (for your sake, hopefully not cooking) for the
group.
PLEASE E-MAIL OR FAX ME WITH QUESTIONS AND TO REGISTER. Also take a look at
the web page for more info.http://www.foothill.net/~mindling
Sincerely y atentamente,
Eric Mindling
rayeric@antequera.com
FAX, Mexico [011-52](952) 1-4186
http://www.foothill.net/~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
fax (952) 1-4186
email: rayeric@antequera.com
Rachel and Eric on sat 5 sep 98
Oaxacan Pottery Workshop and Tour
I)THE POTTERY OF OAXACA
II)OAXACAN POTTERY WORKSHOP
III)SIX VILLAGES POTTERY STUDY TOUR
I)THE POTTERY OF OAXACA
Spread throughout the broken terrain of Southern Mexico are dozens of
hidden villages of potters working quietly at their ancient trade, virtually
unknown to the outside world. This is the quiet, traditional, working
pottery of indigenous villages that have forever supplied their secluded
regions with needed pottery. The pottery of Oaxaca is directly rooted in the
rise of the first agrarian communities to develop in the central valleys
some 4,000 years ago. It has survived the rise and fall of ancient empires,
conquest and revolution and flickers on into the 21st century, the potters
doing their best in the face of competition from tin, plastic and aluminum.
The potters are Zapotec, Mixtec, Mehica, Mixe/Ayu'uk, and Popoluca potters.
Their humble, beautiful, backcountry pottery is an untold secret.
The pottery is low fire and hand built with a simplicity of tools balanced
by skill brought through centuries of experience. Building techniques,
firings, color, form and texture are different in each village. Centuries of
isolation, variations in local clays, and idiosyncracies developed through
the millennium have created a surprising and exciting variety of potteries.
These trips are offered to share the world of the Southern Mexican
potter and her incredible wealth of knowledge with students and pottery
fanatics. I believe there is much a modern potter can learn from the
artisans of this ancient trade. The potters who we will be working with and
visiting 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 this very deeply rooted 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 these
almost unknown traditions 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 in these changing times.
Both the workshop and study tour are purposefully limited to six
participants. As a small group we travel easily and do not overwhelm our
hosts, unaccustomed to foreigners. This makes for a very personal experience
giving everyone a chance to really take part in and see what is happening
and creates an atmosphere in which we can really get to know our teachers
and hosts.
II) OAXACAN POTTERY WORKSHOP.
6 DAYS. SIZE LIMIT 6.
Workshop dates,
1st session: December 14-19, 1998
2nd session: January 11-16, 1999
Workshop cost is $540. This includes workshop fee, all materials, hotel
for seven nights and most meals.
This is an intensive, hands in the clay workshop which will immerse
us into the pottery making and life of a small Zapotec village called San
Marcos Tlapazola in the central, high valley of Oaxaca. We will be staying
in this town for four and a half days following our teachers through the
process of creating a pot. Beginning by gathering and preparing clay, then
working our way through the unusual steps of this wheelless, ancient, hand
building technique, we will do our best to understand this challenging
method. On our last day we will fire our pots in the quick, surface bonfire
used in this village. With a little luck when the coals burn down we will
have well formed, red slipped and burnished pots with wonderful burnmarks.
As we are learning our way through the hand building methods of our
teachers, we will also ease into the rhythm and peaceful pace of this
traditional, pre-industrial village. In our time in San Marcos will become
familiar and comfortable with our hosts, working side by side with them,
sharing meals and stories.
Our teachers in San Marcos will be Alberta Sanchez and Macrina
Mateo. These two 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 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.
III) SIX VILLAGES POTTERY STUDY TOUR
8 DAYS, SIZE LIMIT 6
Study tour dates,
session 1: November 30th-December 7th, 1998
session 2: January 25th-February 1st, 1999
Cost $670 Includes hotel, most meals, museum fees and spectacular trip.
The Six Villages Pottery Study Tour takes us into the heart of the
southern Mexican backcountry.We will travel to six traditional pottery
villages. These villages, spread throughout Oaxaca and Puebla states, are
home to Zapotec, Mixe/Ayu'uk, Mixtec, Mestizo and Popoluca potters. We will
see the processes of clay preparation, a variety of hand building
techniques, as well as several distinct firing methods practiced in
different villages, from ground firing to extended reduction firings in
sunken kilns. The finishes given to the pots also vary from village to
village; red slipped, burnish pottery; rough textured, corn cob scraped
pottery; oak bark tannin dyed pots and jet black reduction ware. These
methods and techniques are pre-Colombian, ancient in their invention, quite
effective in their application. We will also visit several museums and
archeological sights to help us develop an understanding of the history of
the places and people we will be traveling amongst. Our base camp will be
the colonial city of Oaxaca. From here we will travel outward, progressively
further into the backcountry and into history with each successive village
we visit.
The potters who will be showing us their methods are traditional masters.
They are not school taught potters, their methods aren't known in books.
They are the inheritors of two hundred generations of clay knowledge passed
from grandmother to mother to daughter in an unbroken line since the first
mixing of water, fire and clay.
.
I run an organization called Manos de Oaxaca, dedicated to helping
in the survival of indigenous Mexican pottery. I have lived and worked in
southern Mexico with hundreds of potters in dozens of villages for the last
seven years. In these years I have developed stong ties and relationships
with the potters.Before dissapearing into southern Mexico I spent a semester
working with the skilled Pueblo traditionalist potter , Mary Lewis, in Acoma
Pueblo, New Mexico. I also got my B.A. fine arts (most of my time in the
pottery studio) from Humboldt State University. I will be organizing,
coordinating and translating (for your sake, hopefully not cooking) for the
group.
PLEASE E-MAIL OR FAX ME WITH QUESTIONS AND TO REGISTER. Also take a look at
the web page for more info.http://www.foothill.net/~mindling
Sincerely y atentamente,
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
fax 011 52 (952) 1-4186
email: rayeric@antequera.com
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