How it's Done

                                                                                          

CLAY... A GIFT FROM MOTHER EARTH

The artisans get up early in the morning before the sun rises. Their journey is long, so they carry some beans, a hot chili sauce and tortillas for lunch. They leave their village and drive to the vein where they gather the clay. When the sacks are full, they put them in a truck and go back home.

At the workshop, the artisans spread the clay on the floor and clean it from remaining impure particles. They patiently thresh until it is reduced to fine dust and is later sifted. It's the end of the cleaning process.

The clay that is used for larges pieces is mixed with "Tule flower" that grow in few lakeshores only twice a year. The fiber of this flower is mixed with the fine dust and water until a smooth thick dough is obtained.

Later, the clay is poured into large molds for the larger pieces. For smaller pieces they use liquid clay in casting molds.

With clay still fresh, pieces are left outdoor for many days so they get dry in the shade; this process is a prerequisite to avoid cracking or breaking when putting pieces in the oven.

The baking day is a shared ritual, all neighbor artisans gather together to put their pieces in the oven. Pieces are carefully set in the oven while fire inside is higher and higher, up to 800 degrees centigrade's.* This temperature must be kept during all the process to obtain the right baking.

When pieces are ready, village women prepare a great meal for everyone.

Every time you have a clay piece or on your sight, remember the process it took for that piece to reach you. Take it on your hands and you will feel it has HART.

* The oven is fueled with gas, on the benefit of our Mother Earth.