Order your personal copy of DOLORES PORRAS: ARTISTA ARTESANA DE BARRO, here.

This film is a celebration of the life of Dolores Porras, an innovative Zapotec potter from Oaxaca, Mexico.  She began making pottery at age fourteen and worked for over fifty years creating in clay.  In this film, you will see Dolores demonstrate building of large pots (ollas), using only a flat dish or “molde” that is rounded on the bottom.  This method is used only in her village of Santa María Atzompa and has remained unchanged for centuries.

What made her work unique was her use of colorful decoration and imagery — ranging from flowers to iguanas, fish, mermaids, and more. She was an artesana and artista and her original work drew attention from different parts of Mexico and around the world. Dolores was an exceptional woman who raised nine children with her husband Alfredo while making pottery six days a week. This film is a celebration of her life, “vida buena” and her artistic creations.

Michael Peed, an artist and university ceramics professor in Montana began visiting and filming Dolores in 1998.  Returning every year since then, their friendship developed and he continued to see her prolific outpouring of creativity in her work. Michael received his BFA in ceramics from Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design.

The film, DOLORES PORRAS: ARTISTA ARTESANA DE BARRO is bilingual, with subtitles in English and Spanish.

© 2012 Michael Peed