The art of Oaxacan Pottery

This book is an homage to the wisdom of the ancestral indigenous potters throughout the wildly diverse state of Oaxaca, Mexico. It is a pioneering work, for most of the 70 villages mentioned in this book were completely unknown beyond their local trade networks before this book was published.

It is also my opus magnus. I may write other books, they may be wonderful, but this is the book I was born to write. I spent the decade of my 20’s sleuthing out every village in Oaxaca I could find that makes pottery. From that era the book arose. The book also takes a deep, insightful and sensitive look at how the pottery is made and the impressive ancient wisdom that goes into every aspect of its creation, from functionality to environmental equilibrium.