Delores and Marvin Moquino
Delores was born on
August 29, 1967 and Marvin was born on October 22, 1966. Marvin learned
to make pottery from helping his father, famed Santa Clara potter, Corn
Moquino. He learned mostly by watching Corn make his award winning pottery
and he learned the art of deep carving from watching his aunt,
Joanna Herrera.
For 25 years Marvin has been making pottery
and 12 years ago began teaching his wife, Delores.
I don't think you'll
find another husband and wife pottery team with the dedication to create
each and every piece with such perfectionistically high standards. Already
their pottery
is award-winning and they have been written up in publications.
Totally devoted to traditional pottery
making, Delores and Marvin take several weeks to make each pottery piece.
They dig their
own
clay from around
the
Pueblo, which because of its remote location can only be accessed in fair
weather. They gather and screen fine sand from another Pueblo that
gives the clay the body that it needs to be perfect. They go to another
far away Pueblo to dig the perfect clay for the polishing slips. They
also gather the horse manure needed for the firing process that gives
the blackware pots
their color. They spend hours pinching and coiling each pot, then sanding
and polishing them to the glass-like finish. Marvin does incrediably clean
deep carving work while Delores etches her own freehand artwork.
Although Marvin has been selling his pottery
for 25 years it has been less than a year since he retired from the
dangerous job of being a Hot Shot Firefighter to devote his time fully
to express
his art with his wife, Delores. This couple will be a team to watch as
their work becomes more widely available and they take the time to enter
the major award shows in the near future. If you're on a budget, all I
can say is buy their work now before they are 'discovered' by the serious
pottery collectors and galleries.
Marvin was kind to take time to explain
the process of making his traditional Santa Clara pottery and you can
read a more in depth account
by clicking here. The
Art of Making Santa Clara Pottery
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