Maestro Esteban Valdez, San Miguel, Mexico

The late Maestro Esteban Valdez working at his bench to create ceramic magic, San Miguel, Mexico

Maestro is a respectful form of address used in many parts of Latin America; sometimes applied to someone very skilled at their craft or trade. In this case the Maestro is a ceramic artist who is famous for his use of very old techniques. My guide,Angelica Juarez, introduced me to him and asked if i could make some pictures of him. The more I watched him work in his humble studio, the more he seemed like an old shaman working his magic. I imagined that the very archaic animal motifs he used on his pieces must have come during journeys to the spirit world. When I got the nerve to ask him where his inspiration came from he told me that some of it came from the cartoon shows he watched with his grandchildren. Lesson: assumptions are tricky little things.