Mata Ortiz Pottery

Mata Ortiz Pottery Lila Silveira Extra Large Mixed Clay Modern Mexican Fine Art

EXTRA LARGE MUSEUM QUALITY MIXED CLAY WITH NATURAL BLACK PAINT MATA ORTIZ POTTERY BY THE FAMOUS MASTER POTTER LILA SILVEIRA AN INCREDIBLE DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY IN THIS PIECE! DIFFERENT CLAYS NORMALLY FIRE AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES! THIN WALLS ARE THE UTLIMATE SIGN OF QUALITY AND ARE EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO EXECUTE IN AN EXTRA LARGE FORM LIKE THIS! TRADITIONAL DESIGNS WITH A MDERN APPEAL! Lila Silveira is one of the finest potters in the village of Mata Ortiz... and one of our true favorites!! Her pottery is elegant, high quality, and she is thoughtful on the distribution of design so that you can still appreciate the beauty of the pottery form itself. Lila was one of the few lucky ones to have been selected to study under Juan Quezada for several years. As a result of the bond that developed, Juan still shares his clay and even his very special gold paint with Lila. Lila is outstanding in her own right... she makes very thin walled and extremely smooth pottery ollas. Her painting is done in traditional patterns, with precision and attention to detail. Definitely museum quality. You won't find her listed in the famous book The Many Faces of Mata Ortiz though, as she and her former husband Carlos Carrillo were away from the village on their honeymoon. An interesting twist of fate in itself! We are proud to call Lila our close friend, and proud to share her work!! An amazing talent and an amazing woman!! Lila was selected as one of the top 20 potters in Mata Ortiz, to participate in an exhibit that traveled to Limoges and Paris, France. A few years back the Governor of Chihuahua hosted all of the Governors from the different states in Mexico. He selected one artist from the entire state in order to represent the beauty of Chihuahua, and Lila was selected to create a special pottery piece for every Governor. She has been featured recently on the cover of a magazine and in international documentaries. She is flourishing, yet her devotion to Mata Ortiz pottery remains the same. The special mixture of the different clays is a technique that Lila learned from the master himself - Juan Quezada! There are very few people who are able to blend the multiple colors of clay, and achieve such an even and eye appealing distribution of the clay. The pot is crafted in a laborious process by mixing several different colors of clay together to create a beautiful base to the piece. The clays are joined together into bricks, and then cut into squares. The clays are then mixed together again, and the process is repeated until the desired distribution of the mixed colors is achieved. It is a labor of love, and a process that only the most talented attempt. Different clays fire at different speeds, so this mixture of clays intensifies the risk of breakage during the firing process. To achieve a mixture of this quality requires a true master like Lila Silveira. And then to add in the fact that this pot has very thin hand built walls crafted without the use of a potter's wheel, and the quality of this particular piece just skyrockets to another level. Lila polished the pot by hand using an agate stone, and then painted some of her favorite traditional designs using natural black paint that is applied by a home made paint brush that uses long strands of fine human hair. This piece is a true work of art!! AMAZING and beautiful !!! The pot is signed by the artist, and a traditional pottery display ring (made of clay, wrapped in yarn in Mata Ortiz) will be provided at no extra cost. Approximate Measurements: 13 1/8" high x 8 3/4" wide (28 1/2" in circumference at its widest point) 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 that is placed inside a shallow bowl like vessel, then adds a single coil of clay. This is why you will see that the bottom of the pieces are traditionally conical or rounded in shape, and a pottery display ring is traditionally used for stability in display. They pinch 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. It is definitely a labor of love! While there are about four more rustic electric kilns now in use in town for low temperature firings, black pottery for one must be fired in the traditional manner. Since there are probably not enough kilns for the whole population in town, you will still find traditional firings happening to this day. A Master Potter must be versed in every aspect of Mata Ortiz pottery, including a traditional firing. While we miss the prevalant smell of smoke as we enter town these days, it has definitely been a blessing for the environment and the local tree supply. Mata Ortiz pottery is a low temperature firing, regardless of the manner that the artist choses to fire with, so the pottery is not meant to hold water like a high temperature fired ceramic vase could. Mata Ortiz pottery is a awe inspiring art form, with a beautiful traditional history behind it! There is nothing better to us than seeing these traditions continue for generations to come!

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