Doña Sofía Reyes is a Zapotec artisan and lives in the village of San Bartolo Coyotepec in Oaxaca, Mexico. From her home everyday, as she has her entire life, Doña Sofía makes beautiful black clay pottery by hand and uses only traditional methods and materials to do it. To view a catalogue of black clay pottery made by the hands of Doña Sofía Reyes, click on the link at the bottom of the page. Doña Sofía Reyes has been making black clay pottery since she was 7 years old, today she is 82 years old, that is over 75 years of artistic experience! This lifelong experience is evident in the strength she still displays in her hands and arms. Doña Sofía Reyes learned the pottery craft from her parents and is passing the same traditional techniques of hand-made black clay pottery on to her son Marcelo Simón and grand-daughter Roxana Simón. Black clay pottery is a variety that is distinct to southern Mexico. All the clay that Doña Sofía uses for her pottery comes from local mines where it is dug up, then it is washed and pounded to remove any undesirable elements present and prepare it for use in pottery. Doña Sofía uses very few tools when making her pottery, but those that she does use have also been manufactured by hand from clay. For example: Doña Sofía uses two small clay plates which she places, bottom sides touching, on top of one another, then by spinning the top plate she create her pottery wheel. It is a simple technique, yet undoubtedly very difficult to master. Watch this video to see artist Doña Sofía Reyes demonstrate how she hand-molds traditional Zapotec black clay pottery. Doña Sofía's black clay pottery can appear two different shades of black, either dark black and shiny or more of a non-shiny and very dark grey, there is an important reason for this. The pieces of pottery that appear dark black and shiny appear this color because they been baked in the kiln for only 6 hours and, therefore, cannot hold water; these pieces of pottery are only used for decoration. Those pieces of pottery that are more of a dark grey and not shiny, have been baked in the kiln for 16 hours and it is safe to put water in these pieces of pottery, these can be used as flower vases or even water jugs. Doña Sofía Reyes and her family continue to make black clay pottery in the traditional ways of the Zapotec indigenous culture. Most people that make black clay pottery today do not do so by hand and therefore cannot demonstrate the traditional hand-making techniques that Doña Sofía has mastered over a lifetime. To view a catalogue of hand-made black clay pottery by Doña Sofía and her family, please click on the link below. Catalogue of Black-Clay Pottery by Doña Sofía Reyes & Family