In the summer of 2008 I had the pleasure and good fortune to take lessons from Felipe Ortega on the making of "coil and scrape" pottery using micaceous clay, in the Apache tradition. Felipe is both a master potter and an Apache medicine man who, through an interesting chain of events, comes to Switzerland once a year to give classes -- practically in my backyard.
The overall process is both artistic and spiritual. Felipe brings a sense of humor to the pottery making, while also transmitting some of the lore of the activity. It was very educational, on many levels, and I hope to get another chance to learn more from him. Felipe, if you ever happen to see this page, thank you again for your teaching.
These pots are fired at a relatively low (at least, compared to stoneware) temperature, but because of the mica acting as a reinforcement, they can be used directly on a flame or electric element for cooking. And the mica gives these unglazed-but-polished vessels a special sheen.
In the course of the week-long course I managed to make three vessels. The first was intended as a Christmas present for a sister of mine, and Felipe gave me some special help by designing the incised pattern that decorates it. The second was a covered casserole, intended for use at home, and the third was to be a second bean pot, again for our use.
This is the first one that I made, and probably the prettiest. As I said above, I had some help! I'm pleased to say that my sister really liked it.
We've now baked in the casserole a few times now, and it works great. I had a bit of a scare at the beginning, because it appeared to have a crack running partway around the base. We used a trick that the Swiss use when seasoning new fondue pots: we put in a 50:50 mixture of milk and water, then brought it to a boil on the stove. There was some initial leaking and, as a result, a bit of spitting and steaming, but in the end the crack sealed.
Unfortunately, the third vessel did not fully survive the firing process, mostly because I had not dried it properly before putting it in the fire (I had dried it too long before the firing). When this pot was fired, RM and I were standing next to the fire, watching this and another pot fire away. As we were talking -- BANG! -- and a piece of the pot came shooting out of the fire, fortunately in a direction slightly away from us. "Ah, well," I said. "That's that; I must have left an air pocket." BANG! BANG! -- two more pieces made this all a bit more exciting than anticipated. We took the pieces that came out and threw them back in the fire, figuring that they could still be pretty, and they were, in the end. And the pot itself has a lot of character, all the same. It has a beauty that we take advantage of, as a planter in our garden in Ticino