I LOVE POTTERY

On Wednesday Chuck, Nancy, Jim and I met another Nancy and took the bus to the corner of Avenida de las Americas and Isabela Catolica to the pottery factory called Artesa. We have been here before and love this place. Not only do they have full sets of beautiful dishware but they also have vases, plaques commemorating different scenes of Cuenca, and all kinds of odds and ends (my favorite part).

This is a ceramic mural, showing the nearby National Park, The Cajas, done by ceramicist Eduardo Vega.


Last year when we came here we had the tour of the factory and got to see lots of folks painting the glaze on the pottery.



This year we met up with another couple, Larry and Linda, who had never been to Artesa before and were looking to buy a full set of dishes for their apartment. Here are Nancy, Nancy and Linda in the showroom.



Last year Nancy had a hard time deciding which would be her dishes pattern but after a bit of trial and error settled on a fabulous pattern in vibrant red orange and mustard yellow (which you can see in the lower right of the previous photo). Unfortunately she has learned that her pattern is no longer being made, so she tries to buy up whatever she can when she finds it. Her pattern comes in several other colors, such as this olive green.

Some of the pottery in this factory was designed by E. Vega, the preemminent Ecuadoarian ceramicist, whose studio is near Cuenca in Turi. Any of you who have seen our bathroom have seen tiles made by E. Vega in our shower. Two years ago we had them made at his studio. Here are some samples of his tile work in the Artesa showroom:



With so many wonderful patterns and objects to look at it is almost overwhelming.



The highlight of any visit to Artesa is going to the "seconds" room where you never know what you will find. Usually we cannot find the flaw which made the item become a second or, if we do, it is so inconsequential that it doesn't matter. I love the seconds department because there are stacks of random tiles. This time I bought a lovely bamboo tile by Vega.


I have no idea what I will do with it. We didn't get to spend long in the seconds as they were doing inventory and really didn't want us in there because most of it had already been counted. We have vowed to go back next week when inventory is over and we can paw through the seconds department.

I wish I had room in my suitcase for something this large:


Look how pretty an Artesa vase looks with flowers in it, in Chuck and Nancy's living room:


Oh, and did I mention, the prices are quite reasonable - and this is all hand painted, artist designed pottery!

Today we are off to Loja for a 4 day adventure, so you will hear from me when we get back. Loja is south of here and about 2,000 feet lower. Chuck is renting some sort of vehicle to go there so we can bring back as much pottery as possible from a special place there. That, as they say, will be a story for another day.

Hasta luego,

Audrey