BY THE TALENTED POTTER SAIRA LEDEZMA NUNEZ
HIGH-QUALITY WORK WITH FINESGRAFFITO DETAIL! CHARM AND CREATIVITY!
Master Potters Guadalupe Ledezma Quezada and Karla Quintana Vasquez are a husband-and-wife team, and two very popular second generation of potters from Mata Ortiz, Mexico. Both potters learned the art of Mata Ortiz Pottery from their incredibly talented parents Guadalupe is well known for his animal pieces that feature an animal such as an owl popping out of the top of the pot, with the paint design revolving around the black painted cuadricula squares on an elegant and rich brown clay background that he learned from his mother. Karla Quintana Vasquez was born on February 14, 1984, in nearby Colonia Cuahtemoc to Tomas Quintana and Gloria Vasquez. She learned the art of Mata Ortiz pottery at the age of 17 by assisting her well known father with his work. Karla takes the sculptural quality of her father’s animal figures and decorates adorable turtles in the style of her husband Guadalupe. It is wonderful to see two very talented potters preserving the traditions of their talented parents, ensuring that these traditions survive for future generations! Guadalupe and Karla are attracted to the art of Mata Ortiz pottery for this exact reason, to preserve the traditions that they both fell in love with as young children. While it is their true love and passion, it has also become their primary source of income, supporting their family that includes three young daughters. Our hope is that these children will later continue the traditions of Guadalupe and Karla! This piece is one of Karla's small turtles. We love it! Very detailed and precise. It is signed by the artist.
Approximate Measurements: 1 3/8" high x 2 3/8" wide x 3 1/4" deep
Hand made without even the use of a potter’s wheel! Done in the traditional style of Mata Ortiz, with hand forming the piece out of clay that has been dug from the local countryside. The clay is sifted to remove the impurities, making the clay pliable and easier to work with than the standard clay that we find in art supply shops in the US. The artist starts with a flat pancake of clay, then adds a single coil of clay. The artist pinches the walls upward to form the pot, while scooping out the clay from within, and thinning the walls from the outside at the same time. Larger pieces will include a second coil added at the top. Mata Ortiz pottery is known for how thin walled and light weight it is, which makes it quite difficult to hand build without collapsing along the way. The piece will then dry for several days, before sanding the walls to get the walls. The surface of the pot is protected with a thin layer of oil, beforehand polishing the surface with an agate stone. Then the piece is painted with natural paint using a homemade brush crafted of long strands of human hair. A low temperature firing is the last step. Although there are some electric kilns in town these days, traditionally the pottery is fired on the ground using local wood similar to cottonwood. If it is a colored pot, the firing area is elevated on bricks to allow air to circulate during the firing, the pot is placed on a tripod or grate, covered with a clay or metal vessel, wood is stacked around the outer vessel and then ignited. Once the wood burns down, then the firing has been completed. If a black pot was desired, then sawdust or cow dung would be spread on the ground inside of the outer vessel and dirt would be used to seal the edges of the outer vessel, so that oxygen does not flow into the firing. Any actual color of clay could be used, and the pot would still turn black. The artist wanted the colors to remain on this piece, so oxygen was allowed to flow during the firing. One in every four or five pots break in a traditional firing.