Oaxacan Clay Workshop

We begin our nine-day experience in San Marcos Tlapazola, a village in the high, central valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. This valley was and is the cradle of Zapotec civilization and is literally covered in ruins and ancient pottery shards. We will be working in San Marcos 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 wheel-less, Pre-Colombian 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 get to know 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.

While our pots are drying we’ll hit the road and see some of the other wonders of Oaxaca. In the village of Atzompa we’ll meet with Angelica Vasquez, one of Mexico's most talented and inspired potters. Much of her work depicts in clay the old Oaxacan myths and legends told to her by her grandmother. We’ll also visit Irma Garcia Blanco, a master potter featured in The Great Masters of Mexican Folkart. For spice we’ll also visit a lively market, a 2,000-year-old tree, the ruins of Zapotec palaces and a village where there are 5,000 rug weavers.

While we are working in San Marcos we be staying in a small hostel on the edge of a Zapotec weaving village. The evenings in the hostel are quiet and relaxing. With no telephones, televisions, computers, homework or housework we are forced to spend our evenings eating long dinners and spinning yarns. Please bring a yarn to spin, or maybe your fiddle.

ITINERARY
(B=breakfast, L=Lunch, D=dinner included)

Day 1. (D). We will have our first meeting at the hotel at 5:30 PM to meet each other and discuss the trip then we hit the town and have dinner. Evening in Oaxaca..

Bonfiring in San Marcos

Day 2. (B,L,D). This morning we pack our traveling bags and head into the land of the Zapotecs! First stop is the big Sunday market in Tlacolula. We will dive into the swirl of this market and lose ourselves to the sights and smells. Satiated, we extract ourselves, find a calm place for lunch, then head to the ruined Zapotec palaces of Mitla to see some of the best of pre-Colombian architecture. In the late afternoon we head to our bunkhouse in Santa Ana del Valle.

Carding wool in Teotitlan.

Day 3-5. (B,L,D) .

We will spend our days in the village of San Marcos Tlapazola, working with a family of Zapotec master potters. We will begin making our pots in the most logical way, by digging clay. We will learn how to turn these clods of earth into workable clay, and we will learn to work clay in the old Zapotec way. No wheels, no kilns, no chairs. How on earth does one make a pot then? You shall see- be sure to bring your hands, because in these lay the secret. And throw in some patience and ibuprofen while you are at it. While we are making our pots, we will also be getting to know our teachers and learning something about life in this household and in this village. We’ll see tortillas being made, eat great food, share in a bit of local gossip and enjoy the communion of shared work. In the afternoons, should we finish our work early, we will head out and visit the nearby ruins of ancient pyramids as well as a village of 5,000 rug weavers called Teotitlan del Valle.

Evenings at bunkhouse in Santa Ana del Valle.

Day 6. (B,L). This morning we put the finishing touches on our vessels. Namely, pulling out the elbow grease and a good piece of quartz and giving our bowls a fine burnish. Then we head on down the road while our pots dry. We will return to Oaxaca, but on the way we stop and pay our respects to an enormous, 2,000-year-old cypress tree (the fattest tree you will ever see in your life!). You will have a free afternoon in Oaxaca city to begin to explore this beautiful colonial city.

Great Master Irma Garcia Blanco

Day 7. (B,L).This morning we’ll travel to the nearby village of Atzompa, a village of a thousand potters and Oaxaca's most productive pottery village. Here we will visit Irma Garcia Blanco, recognized in The Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art as one of Mexico’s premiere artisans. She is also a very sweet lady. Then we’ll head above the village to the hilltop home of Angelica Vasquez who has won just about every award Mexico offers for her outstanding clay work. Drawing on the rich legends of Oaxaca and the tales her grandmother told her as a child she creates narratives out of clay. She is featured in the recent Chornicle Press book Oaxacan Ceramics. We leave the afternoon open to allow you time to catch your breath, soak in all you’ve seen and wander aimlessly in Oaxaca. Evening in Oaxaca.

Day 8. (B,L,D). You will have time this morning for any last minute shopping or arrangements you may need to make. We will meet at 11 and have a brunch of wonderful empanadas, fresh OJ and hot corn chocolate at La Merced market before heading out to San Marcos to fire our pots. After the coals burn down and we collect our works of art we will bid farewell to our friends in San Marcos and return to Oaxaca for a shower and our closing dinner as a group. Evening in Oaxaca.

Day 9. (B).This morning after breakfast (or before for some of you) catch your flights back home or continue your travels on your own.