ECUADOR

ECUADOR

In 2001 the San Diego State Foundation gave Professor Richard Burkett a grant to take a small group of graduate students to Ecuador. I was lucky enough to be one of those students. The trip was also made possible because of Professor Joe Molinaro of Eastern Kentucky University. Joe has studied extensively in Ecuador and was able to arrange tours and demonstrations that exceeded everyone's expectations. Thank you to SDSU, Richard and Joe!

This series is from the capitol city of Quito, which sits 8,500 feet above sea level. The pictures are from a brick factory in a valley outside of Quito. Large clay deposits blanket the valley and brick factories are a common occurrence along the roadside.

View of Quito	Handmade bricks are made from clay dug close by.
This kiln is used to fire the bricks. It can hold 10-15 thousand bricks.	A view looking at the stacks of finished brick

This section is from an area near Puyo. We went to see Esthela Dagua, a Quichua woman that has earned tremendous respect for her ceramic work. The small village had arranged an afternoon of demonstrations for our group.

A roadside view on the way to Puyo	A waterfall outside Banos on the way to Puyo
Esthela's pottery	Looking at pots inside Esthelas
Traditional designs are painted on using brushes made of 2-3 hairs.	A sampling of the handmade brushes that they use to apply the natural pigments.
Chicken, potatoes, and yucca were wrapped in a banana leaf and roasted on an open fire for our lunch.	The pots are preheated over a small flame.
The pots are inverted and placed inside a bottomless bowl.	The bowl is filled with ash and a fire is slowly started below it.
The pots are allowed to cool slightly before they are removed from the fire.	Using leaves they remove the hot piece and place it on an upside down bowl.
Sap is harvested from the Shiquillo tree, and serves as the "glaze" for this low temperature work.	When the tree sap comes in contact with the hot surface it melts and forms a shiny coating.
When I applied the tree sap a wonderful aroma filled the open air workspace.	A young Quichua child watching the strangers
A view of the river as the clouds roll in and rain begins to fall.	It would continue for two days and the town of Banos would be hit by flooding, earthquakes, mudslides, and volcano eruptions.

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