Eli Ortiz: Black on Black Mata Ortiz Pottery San Ramon regal and serene

regal and serene

whose ruins at Monte Albán are just south of Isabel’s workshop in San Martín Tilcajete

plates of tamales

generous presence

Eli Ortiz: Black on Black Mata Ortiz Pottery San Ramon regal and sereneEli Ortiz keeps the Ortiz tradition alive in black. He is the son of the late Eduardo "Chevo" Ortiz, one of Mata Ortiz's most celebrated potters, and this piece carries that lineage directly. The graphite black on black technique that defines this olla traces back to the Ortiz family itself. Chevo's brother Macario discovered that graphite left on a pot's surface before firing retained its silvery sheen afterward, and what began as an accidental