Howard, Scott, Teresa, Pat, Kathy, Connie, Dave, Carolyn
Mata Ortiz
November, 2006
Howard, Scott, Teresa, Pat, Kathy, Connie, Dave,
Carolyn
Our
group of eight left Tucson early on Friday, November 17. After an easy border
crossing, we traveled through the Sierra Madre Mountains and arrived in Mata
Ortiz around 4 PM. We checked into the Adobe Inn and started an early pre-dinner
party. Many potters were at the Inn and Jorge Quintana had a huge selection of
pots there.
Next morning we walked through town to the tortilleria for a kilo of fresh, warm corn tortillas. After breakfast we visited many of the potters in the village including:
Manolo Rodriquez
Abraham Rodriquez
Hector and Graciela Gallegos
Blanca Quezada
Noe Quezada's Gallery
Juan Quezada's Gallery
Lila Silveira
Marcario Ortiz
Gloria Hernandez
Villalba Family
Mauro Quezada Gallery
After lunch we visited:
Ismael Flores
Roberto Bañuelos
Jorge Quintana Gallery
Tomas Quintana
Elvira Bugarini
Ledezma Family
We also visited several more potters who invited us into their
homes.
At dinner, many more potters arrived at the Inn.
Sunday morning started with a walk to the Santuarios on the hill for a great
view of sunrise over the village. Then we initiated the newcomers with a walk
over the railroad bridge.
After breakfast we visited Laura Bugarini and then headed to Paquimé to see the museum and ruins. We met Spencer and Emi MacCallum at their home and had a tour of their "Museum House" and their larger property under restoration. Then we all headed to the Hacienda de San Diego for a delicious lunch, local dancing and tour. Afterwards Spencer gave us an interesting talk about his "discovery" of the village.
Later that afternoon, we visited potters:
Yesenia Villa Family
Baudel Lopez Corona
After dinner, Howard, Scott, Dave, Connie and Teresa headed to Barrio Central
for the dance celebrating the crowning of the village "Queen". Lila's daughter
was one of the three finalists.
The music was loud, but there was a lot of local color.
Monday
morning we walked to Barrio Lopez. After breakfast, as we headed out of the village, we saw lots of children preparing for a
parade. On November 20, Mexico celebrates the anniversary of its Revolution. On
this date, in the year 1910 the war to overthrow the dictator Porfirio Díaz,
began. We wish we could have stayed for the festivities, but our scheduled
required us to return to Tucson.
On the way back through Nuevo Casas Grandes, we made a stop to see Salvador
and Virginia Baca where several of us bought "just one more pot". Then we made a
quick
stop at Hernandez's Gallery for stands before heading back over the mountains.
Our route from Naco, through Bisbee and Tombstone was quite scenic, but we
can't wait to return to the dusty
lit
tle
village in Chihuahua.
