A pesar de años de experiencia, el barro sigue sorprendiendo a Francisco.
FRANCISCO LARA
With more than 40 years close to clay and ceramics, Francisco still affirms that he is not a complete artisan.
His specialty is research; the creation and adjustment of specific formulas or pastes, and in recent years, the clay burnishing technique.
To visit him is to learn a little more about Dolores, about the stories surrounding the workshops, factories, potters, and above all, the challenges that arise in each test and each opened furnace.
Contact with the clay
Francisco had some uncles who introduced him to pottery. From the age of 10 he already brought breakfast to the workshop. Little by little he got to know the world of ceramics and learning about pastes until he devoted himself completely to it.
For him, working with clay is not just anything, he describes it as something wonderful, it is a world full of mysteries and discoveries.
El barro tiene un cierto embrujo; cuando uno lo está trabajando surgen ideas de la nada y se entienden muchas cosas.
— Francisco Lara
Su intuición como maestro alfarero y la situación de Dolores
It is approximately 15 years ago when Francisco began to seek to learn more in books, regardless of whether they are in Italian. Interpret the formulas and some texts to draw their own conclusions, thus helping to solve the problems that arise.
He affirms that the work of pottery and ceramics has decreased dramatically since the fall of the Twin Towers and with the release of tariffs on Chinese trade. Before, the economy of Dolores was totally moved by the work of its potters; today there are very few workshops that have survived, people prefer to work in the factories of large companies that have settled in the surrounding area. Working in a workshop is no longer profitable, much less owning one.
He is sure that, as Mexicans, we need to create our own and exclusive designs to differentiate ourselves from each other in the market, competing in a healthy way, without competing only for price.
For Francisco, working on the pieces of MERAKIA has meant discovering a new world in ceramics. Working with clay, just as it is, in its simplest form, without glazes and burnished on its surface, has shown him the number of surprises that a material that he himself perceived as something simple and easy to work with.
Pensaba que ya dominaba casi todo en cuanto a las fórmulas, pero trabajando piezas tan sencillas para ser bruñidas, me he dado cuenta de que hay todo un mundo de cosas por seguir aprendiendo; dominar el barro no es cosa fácil.
— Francisco Lara
