ENRIQUE PEDREGON
Potter

Enrique learned to pot at the age of 15 from his parents, Teodora Ortiz and Reynaldo Pedregon. But like many second-generation potters, Enrique has become the better known potter than his parents. And like many of his peers, Enrique's success as a second-generation potter is exponentially greater, seemingly not just a product of the skills from his parents but taking leaps and bounds because of his own visions and also in skills.

Instead of polishing his pots with river rocks as is the custom, he uses clear shoe polish to shine his pots after firing. This brings out the luster of his pots and also of his painting. It is this luster of the browns and blacks, the intricate banded designs, that are hallmarks of Enrique's pots. The tannish-brown clay he prefers and earth tones of his paints hearken to warm earthen hues of Hopi pottery. His designs, too, seem to capture echoes of times past.

He is young (at the time of this writing in 2013, still living with his parents), and his youth brings vitality and vision to his pots. And yet his pieces also seem to honor the past and bring it to life. Which is really the magic of Mata Ortiz pottery, and perhaps explains a part of why Enrique's pieces are so popular.