Traditional Ceramic Techniques

• The techniques for obtaining and mixing clay are indigenous to Mexico and have changed little, except for the use of electrically powered grinding mills. The Mediterranean-style, open-top kiln has not been modernized since its importation, although Mexican potters now use rubber tires for its fuel instead of wood.
  
  When a pot is ready to fire, the kiln is fueled by "lena" (firewood) or rubber, and after all the smoke from fire has disappeared, the pots are placed in the top of the two-chambered kiln, the bottom section of which is comprised of firebox for the fuel and covered by a grill that throws heat into the upper chamber. The pottery is subjected to one firing of six hours in the kiln. Pieces are covered with an opaque, white glaze made from tin and lead, then decorated with mineral colors. Sometimes glazing requires pottery to be fired twice.
  
  

Subject Matter

• Humor and gaiety is characteristic of work of Mexican potters. Try to incorporate traditional subject matter in your work. Adam and Eve near the "tree of life," with leaves and flowers that look like cookie cutouts of blue and orange, is a traditional design. Rural ceremonies (funerals, baptisms, weddings, bullfights), as well as nativity scenes, are popular subject matter. Humorous skeleton musicians, scenes with devils and dead men decorated with paint are also common themes in Mexican ceramic art.
  
  

Glaze

• Use glaze to enhance your design. Glaze is a vitreous coating applied to pottery to seal the surface and as decoration. It may be colored, transparent or opaque and either glossy or matte. Black glazes and amber-colored glazes are popular in many regions. Green glazes must contain copper oxide. Tin glazing is essential to the art of "majolica."