nicasioeng

Nicasio Pajarito Gonzalez.
Branch: Clay.
Specialty: Cinnamon-coloured.

Nicasio was born in Tonalá, the 13 of October of 1935. All its life has dedicated it to unravel
the secrets of the mud, from his favourite technique, the burnishing. The forms of their
pieces are unique, it elaborates them with extreme well-taken care of and call the attention by
the beauty of the decoration and the perfection in the finish. Great clay pieces of different
types (white, black, red) and properties constitute the matter of work of this jalisciense
craftsman.

If the deposits in where his raw material is have an owner, he pays for permit of extractòn or
rent the place by a time. The children of Don Nicasio, Zenón and Isabel, divide the pieces
and they put them in a mill that pulverizes them; lugo passes the dust through a great sieve.
Later they mix in dry the different types from mud, in agreement with the piece class that
wishes to make; for example, if it is desired to obtain the cinnamon-coloured mud, it is
necessary to mix the sticky black mud with the white mud. Immediately, they spill a little water
on selected mud, they cover them and they let them "rot" or ferment by a brief season.
Before beginning to work, they remove an amount from material, extend it in the floor and they
step on it with the naked feet, looking for the air bags that could contain the mud. When they
are going to make a large bottle, one of the most complicated pieces, models the different
parts by hand: the leg bases or seat, the bucket or neck and jícaras that forms the body of
the large bottle. These last ones are united with mud and water so that they form a sphere;
soon they erase the junctions with a "stone of Castile" that use to smooth. Once dry the
piece, adheres the seat and opens a round opening in the other end, in whose perimeter the
neck adjusts. In order to match the surface they apply a bath of engobe and they let dry the
piece in the shade, during a time. They sandpaper it, they clean the dust to him with water,
put another mud layer to him matíz (to shrink), they let it dry again and or is ready for the
decoration or "embaye". In order to decorate, they begin by the heaviest adornments; later,
with finer brushes, they create the most delicate drawings: flowers, lambda-type and a
slapped species of. They burnish with a stone by long time and much force, to fix the colors
well, at the same time that close the pore of the mud. Finally they pass a smooth rag over the
stone that already is ready to enter the furnace. It burns it make it with firewood in a furnace
circulate and open during three hours; in the end, the used earth as paintings acquire a
coloration cinnamon and the pieces are with shining finishing, to three inks, in an ocher range.