Nicolás Quezada: 

Master potter and innovator

     "A person is an artist if he sees that he grows and develops, trying new forms and not always doing the same things over and over." This is Nicolás' description of an artist. Nic is the younger brother of Juan and was originally taught the craft by his older brother about 30 years ago. When he learned, Nicolás quit his back-wrenching job repairing railway ties along the Chihuahua y Pacifico line to become a full time potter. His style has grown tremendously over the years from stiff heavy figures on the sides of ollas (jars) to the complex sweeping designs of today which often seem to leap off the earthenware. He calls this style movimiento , movement.

    When he was younger, his designs were more vertical than diagonal--up and down elements, he said, that "stopped." Now, they curve and flow diagonally and horizontally, following the shape of the pot. On many of his pieces, one can follow a line all the way around the pot and return to its starting point. This style was developed by Juan.

    However, Nicolás is an innovator in his own right. He first developed the mixture of red, white and orange clays to form a pink body that is popular with many potters. I was in his studio the day he fired his first piece. The fired jar was uniformly pink, contrasting nicely with the flaring black design. Juan came over to inspect the piece and shook his head, saying, "I didn't think it was possible."

    Nicolás takes great pride in all his work. The quality of the pottery also comes from the shape and weight of the olla. When he lifts a pot he likes, often his first words are, "Muy leviana," Very light. The thin walls are very important, which is one reason he prefers to work with the white clay. The lighter the pot, the greater the skill of the potter, is the perception of the buyer, he says. White clay is unforgiving of errors, but also can make for the lightest pots, with the thinnest walls.

    If one accepts Nicolás' definition of an artist as one who does not stagnate, but strives to develop new styles and experiment with new forms, then Nicolás is an artist. He is also a businessman and in 1993 moved into Nuevo Casas Grandes. In 1996, he moved to a new lot near the museum in Old Casas Grandes, where he lives with his wife Gloria and younger son, Leonel--also a budding potter. There, he continues to create pottery near the site of the area's original potters.

    Check out the "Father and Son" story to read about Nicolás' influence on his older son, José.

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Last updated: April 24, 2003. Email Webmaster at thaimexico@lycos.com