A portrait of the potter Oralia Lopez as a young woman begins in Mata Ortiz, a village in the Mexican state of Chihuahua celebrated for the beauty, originality and integrity of its ceramic arts.
As a little girl, Lopez learned how to make pottery at the side of her father, an exceptional artist. At age 14, her finely executed pots caught the eye of collectors. Now 27, Lopez is recognized as one of the village's foremost potters. Her work is in prestigious galleries and in the permanent collections of museums around the world.
On Friday, Lopez will demonstrate how she paints her signature geometric designs at Academy Village, an active-adult community six miles southeast of Saguaro National Park East, off Old Spanish Trail. The event will be held in the activities room of the community center.
Some of her work and the pottery of 45 other artists will be on display and for sale. John V. Bezy, who co-wrote a history of the Mata Ortiz pottery tradition and leads tours to the region, will be on hand to answer questions.
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Mata Ortiz lies some 20 miles south of the ancient settlement of Paquime, a World Heritage site and a major inspirational source for Lopez and other local artists.
Although they have built on the old pottery tradition, enriching it with innovative designs, forms and colors, very little has changed in the painstaking process itself.
"Few realize the incredible amount of work that goes into a Mata Ortiz pot," Bezy said in a telephone interview. "Only natural and readily available materials are used. The clay must be dug, soaked and filtered before it can be shaped, sanded and polished with a rock.
"Paints are made from local minerals. For fine work, Oralia fashions a paintbrush by tying two or three human hairs to a pencil-size stick. It can take a month for her just to paint a pot."
Oralia's time is so valuable now, Bezy explained, that she is unable to carry out all these steps herself. But there's no shortage of help in the close-knit Lopez family. Two uncles are experts at firing pottery; others make pots. In turn, through the sales of her work, Oralia has helped put her sisters Yesenia and Rosalba through the university in Chihuahua. They are talented potters, too.
If you go
• What: Pottery-painting demonstration by master potter Oralia Lopez and sale of Mata Ortiz pottery.
• When: 3-7 p.m. Friday
• Where: Activities room in the community center of Academy Village, 13701 E. Langtry Lane
• Cost: Free
• Information: Call 647-0980
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