Baudel Lopez

Mata Ortiz

Baudel Lopez is a potter from the village of Mata Ortiz. He began working with clay in the early 1990s and has since taught the traditional art to all his older brothers. He says he learned by watching others but he doesn't point at any single person as his teacher.

In 1992 the drought in Chihuahua was so bad some of the family's cattle died and prices were too low to sell the others. Times were hard but that was when his family reaped the rewards of having allowed Baudel, the youngest son, the time to learn to work with clay and paint on it. The income from his pots helped all his family through the drought.

He seems to work mostly with brown and red clays to make pots two to three inches high. His trademark painting and sgraffito designs are very intricate. The shapes and organic openings of his pieces are quite distinctive. He sometimes collaborates with others, usually Soralla Acosta.