Details:

• Material: Polychrome Clay, Paint

• Measurements: 13cm Length x 13cm Width x 27cm Height

• Hand Crafted in Mexico

  
  

Saul Montesinos is a ceramic artisan from the central Mexico region. After the death of his father when he was just 11 years old, Saul and his younger brother were sent to work in an artisan workshop to help to provide for their struggling family. It was here under their guidance his love for ceramics and the process of creating blossomed.

After 16 years, at the age of 27 he made one of the most difficult decisions of his life, to leave and open his own workshop. With a wife of his own now and his first son on the way the early days were extremely difficult and money scarce. It was to be Saul’s belief in himself and his dedication to his art that would lead to his success. His dream of opening his own workshop and to offer work to those in his community is now a reality, his work is in high demand from not just his home country of Mexico but varying countries around the world.

Long sought-after by collectors of folk art, these figures are made entirely by hand. The potter forms the trunks and branches and attaches them to each other with wire, around which he then wraps the clay. After firing the frame in a wood-burning oven, a base coat primer of white paint. Next, with a steady hand, he paints the fine, multicoloured decorative motifs using durable acrylic paints. A final coat of shiny varnish or matte acrylic spray preserves the colors for many years to come.

He said of his craft “It takes time to paint each piece by hand….Yet this is my favourite part of the process because I can give each piece a special touch. They may all look alike but they aren’t identical.”