Macrina Tlapazola lives in a tiny village located in San Marcos Tlapazola, Mexico. She lives together with 20 other family members who all help with the pottery process. The red clay is dug from the foothills of a mountain and brought back to their workshop. Macrina started learning the craft of pottery at the young age of 8. Her mother would send her out with a piece to a neighboring home and trade a plate she made for a couple onions. She was very disappointed by all the hard work to only come home with three onions. She was determined to make a business out of this that could help support the family by selling the work.
Macrina does not use a pottery wheel and it is all done by hand. She shapes it with a corn husk, small pieces of soft leather or a piece of a gourd. It is a 10 day process to make 1 piece. The final touch when the piece is fired will be rubbing it with an agate to make it smooth and give it shine.
