We traveled to San Juan de Oriente to meet with Jose Ortiz and watch some of the town's potters working. The town is world reknowned for the spectacular pottery produced here--you cannot sit in an outdoor cafe without being offered numerous pots for incredibly reasonable prices.
We did not trek out to one of the Pueblo Blancos so much to save money as to see the source of the ceramics. Jake had been to the town on several occasions and we started with an upscale potter's house. The kiln was on the prominently placed in the entrance of the courtyard, and a woman was working on a pot right next to several tables full of gorgeous finished pieces of ceramic art.
From there we went to Jose Ortiz' studio--he was painting a mural in Granada but his wife, Angela, greeted us and it was really fun to talk with her, see Jose's work, and be met as a friend. My Spanish is rudimentary in a lot of ways, but it is definitely good enough to listen, comprehend, and talk with people in this situation to the level that my personality comes through loud and clear (for better or worse).
From there Angela took us to a women's ceramic cooperative (where we saw Mauricio working the potter's wheel--Angela smiled and said they do not exclude men). We watched the whole process--different pots were at various stages of completion, and it was great to see how the final product was assembled. This is definitely a place to come back to on a return trip--easily accessible from either Managua or Grenada.
No comments:
Post a Comment