Marcos

For the last year I have heard about Marcos. He is a potter that lives in the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains and sells his wares to many of the gringos here. Our friends Keith and Sharon have tried to get us to head up there to see his goods on many occasions but it never worked out until yesterday. My mom is here so we thought it would be a great opportunity to drive up, meet Marcos and contract him do some work for us.

Marcos’ place is only 11 miles into the mountains, but these 11 miles take about an hour to get through as the dirt road is very rustic, even though it is one of the better ones we have found. Just to be safe, Keith called ahead to make sure Marcos would be there for us.

We arrived to find a very charming, only Spanish speaking Marcos, his brother, his brother’s wife and his sister there waiting for us. His home was typical in many ways except he had hide drying on the fence and pounds of meat drying all around the kitchen area. This we had not seen before. The place was spotless, albeit rustic. My mother asked him now long he had lived there and he looked rather shocked. In his 60 plus years this is the only place he has lived. When Keith asked him how often he “heads down” to get supplies, he answered hardly ever. Why would he?.. he asked, when everything he needed was there.

Maurice figured he would last about a week!!

Our intention was to have Marcos make 110 pottered light holders, or sconces, for the lights on our terracing. When Maurice showed him the cardboard prototype of the sconce we wanted made, Marcos said it may be difficult because there were "esquinas" which are corners. He explained, of course in Spanish, that the curve of the things he makes is what gives them the strength they have. We know people here that have ALL of their dishes made by Marcos. They are STRONG and very durable. Anyway, he asked how many sconces we needed and Maurice told him 100.

100!!! He LAUGHED!! His brother laughed. His brother's wife laughed. He sister laughed!! 100!!! This guy makes each piece by hand. He makes each piece of pottery by digging the clay from the earth, mixing this with hay and the other things you need to make pottery, then he molds each piece by hand. No wheel. No equipment. Only a container of water and his hands! I am guessing 100 light sconces sounded absurd to them all. I can not even imagine how long that would take this one, single guy, to do them. How would we have known!! What stupid gringos, huh??!!!

Oh well, our trip was not lost. I finally got my first "Marcos pot". It is a lovely casserole. Sharon also added to her already established collection.

Now the bad part!! I do not know where my head was at cause I did not even think to take pictures while we were with him!! I AM SO UPSET ABOUT THAT. No pictures of the hides, or his “studio”. NOTHING!!!

When we stopped for our picnic, the realization hit me!! NO PHOTOS FOR THE BLOG!!! GEES!!!
Well, here is one of me on our picnic, with my pot. At least you can see how beautiful it is.


Our day ended here.





Eating egg salad sandwiches and drinking beer. We found Keith and Sharon's perfect picnic spot a wonderful way to end our first, of hopefully many trips to see Marcos, the famous potter.

When you plan a trip here make sure to bring some bubble wrap cause you also may want to pack a lunch and head up to meet Marcos. For $50 you can go home with a spectacular memory of your trip to the Baja.

P.S. You may even see bees the size of humming birds!!!