Emilio began with his father at age 6, but quit a while until he married his gorgeous wife, Juana.  He was walking in the area one day and discovered pre-Hispanic ceramics that he loved and he began to copy some of the imagery.  Today they produce “Patojo” vessels, pots with pouring spouts or large handles prized for their beautiful and original forms.  They are decorated with contemporary treatments of many traditional pre-Hispanic designs.  Pieces are burnished with a wet stone and damp rag, then covered with a “charaspecua” clay containing a reddish pigment, or with white earth.  After drying for a period, he adds more layers of pigment until achieving the desired color.  He then decorates them using a fine brush and burnishes them again to fix the colors and seal the pores of the clay.  He then fires them in an adobe kiln for 3-4 hours at gradual increases of temperature until it reaches 700 degrees.

Emilio has won several acknowlegements including the Domingo de Ramos competition in Uruapan 2 years in a row; 4 consecutive awards at the Feria de Mayo in Morelia and repeated awards at the Feria de Noche de Muertos in Tzintzuntzan.

At the time of this writing, we are not sure if Emilio is still with us.  When we last were at his home, both he and his wife were both quite ill.  His grandson, Miguel Angel has apprenticed under Emilio for many years and is very talented.  We are hopeful that he will carry on the tradition of this beautiful work.