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rockydog85251

Sep 13, 2009, 6:25 PM

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San Jose de Garcia

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Can anyone report on a recent stop at this town for the green pottery? Have been told the road there is miserable & not safe/good on vehicles. We would be coming from the south on the cuota & had planned to jump off there, meeting friends coming from Ajijic.

Gracias!
Willie

chinagringo

Sep 13, 2009, 6:38 PM

Post #2 of 11 (4544 views)

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Re: [rockydog85251] San Jose de Garcia

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We were just there on August 21st! When doing my research for our 3600+/15 day drive through Mexico, I was under the impression that San Jose de Gracia was near Mazmitla (sp?). By accident we happened into San Jose de Gracia on a totally different route. We had attended the EnArt Artisan's Trade Show in Tlaquepaque and there was a strong representation by a company based in the San Jose de Gracia that we found. Did not purchase product from them but did find some wonderful product in this town.

Please give me a day or two to go through my trip notes and I will provide turn by turn directions. And no the road is not horrible! Very easy to get to!
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

(This post was edited by chinagringo on Sep 13, 2009, 6:39 PM)

rockydog85251

Sep 13, 2009, 6:46 PM

Post #3 of 11 (4536 views)

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Re: [chinagringo] San Jose de Garcia

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Gracias! Will look forward to more info when you have time.
Willie

Hound Dog

Sep 14, 2009, 5:33 AM

Post #4 of 11 (4508 views)

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Re: [rockydog85251] San Jose de Garcia

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Make sure you viait Patanbam further dowN the road. There are some great potters there as well.

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Sep 15, 2009, 3:15 PM)

chinagringo

Sep 14, 2009, 11:11 AM

Post #5 of 11 (4480 views)

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Re: [rockydog85251] San Jose de Garcia

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Keeping in mind that there are often numerous towns or cities with the same name in MX, the San Jose de Gracia that we found with the "Piná Pottery" is located near Zamora. If one were headed east out of Zamora on Hwy 15 about 15 to 20 kms down the road, you should reach the town of Tangancicuaro de Arista. You will want to turn south. San Jose de Gracia is extremely small and there may not be any indication on any road signs. We came from the other direction, so I cannot really tell you about signage. A bit further down the highway are the towns of Patambán and Ocumicho. By the way, San Jose de Gracia is not even shown on our Guia-Roji map but it was in our GPS.

There is a large pottery operation by the name of: TSITSIKI that has been in business for 20 years and is the company we saw at EnArt in Tlaquepaque. From their display at EnArt, they appear to produce quality product! If you are approaching from the Zamora side, their sign will be on your left just past the middle of town. We ended up purchasing some nice brown pieces from a small shop on the right side if coming from the same direction. You might be able to recognize the shop as they had a sign/banner to the left of the front entry with: a large green Piná with the wording Pinás de Barro below. A very pleasant woman ran the shop and was quite helpful! You may just be surprised to find out that it not only comes in green but also blue, yellow, brown, black and combinations thereof.

If you should purchase - Make sure they pack carefully as this pottery is somewhat fragile, as we found out from purchase at a different location on a previous trip!

Good luck finding the pottery mentioned by HoundDog in Patambán or for that matter Ocumicho. We completely struck out in those two towns. Not to say we would not make another attempt the next time we go back to San Jose de Gracia for more Piná Pottery.

Have fun with this wonderful craft!
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

rockydog85251

Sep 14, 2009, 1:59 PM

Post #6 of 11 (4467 views)

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Re: [chinagringo] San Jose de Garcia

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I did transpose the 2 letters in Gracia.....the fellow we are looking for is shown in the book published by Banamex of the masters of popular arts of Mexico and was listed as being in this town. It does show on our Guia Roji map book as being not far off the cuota. I'm trying to gather as many autographs on their write ups as possible, some have already died since it was originally published. Have 3 since purchasing 2 weeks ago & hoping for more soon!!! A fun project......
Willie

bournemouth

Sep 14, 2009, 5:59 PM

Post #7 of 11 (4441 views)

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Re: [rockydog85251] San Jose de Garcia

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You need to come to the Feria Maestros del Arte, in Chapala on November 13-15 this year. You will meet several Maestros from the book and have a great time as well. The mission of the Feria is to help keep the wonderful artesania of this country alive and well - the artisans are having a tough time at the moment between the economy and the lack of tourists and even the well known artisans are suffering:

http://www.mexicoartshow.com/2009maestros.html

If you have any questions, send me a p.m.

Brigitte Ordoquy

Sep 14, 2009, 8:32 PM

Post #8 of 11 (4422 views)

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Re: [chinagringo] San Jose de Garcia

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You have to know of the people you are looking for in Patabam but everyone is the village knows Neftali Ayungua Suarez. Just ask for Neftali when you are on the plaza and the will direct you to his house.
One the better artisans as a rule do not need to sell their wares on the side of the road or at the market. Many of then work on special order.
In the summer most of them have no inventory as the clay does not dry because of the rain and they do very few orders. You have to shop for clay during the dry season.
In many villages there are no shops you have to go from house to house. So if you did not find anything there you should return when it is dry, summer being the worst time to go. Go just before before Palm sunday and you will see a large amount of the pottery made for the Fair in Uruapan. Do not bother going to the villages during the Semana Santa as most artisans are at the fair.
Our timing was better than yours when we went to Patanbam and we did find some wonderful item.

chinagringo

Sep 15, 2009, 4:00 AM

Post #9 of 11 (4409 views)

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Re: [Brigitte Ordoquy] San Jose de Garcia

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Now that you mention it - it was a driving rainstorm when we were in both of the towns!
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

chinagringo

Sep 15, 2009, 6:22 PM

Post #10 of 11 (4372 views)

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Re: [Brigitte Ordoquy] San Jose de Garcia

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Brigitte:

There is no question that you and Bob are way ahead of us when it comes to the "learning curve" on find prime vendors/artisans in Mexico! Our last trip was an expansion on previous trips and sure we had a number of failures but we hopefully continue to learn and expand our horizons relative to Mexico. In some case, we have been more than lucky in finding certain quality suppliers but we certainly cannot expect 100% success. If we are learning too easily, then we will be fooling ourselves. Our motivation in the area of pottery is not necessarily for our import business but rather personal collecting. In the case of our purchases in San Jose de Gracia, we liked the items we purchased and felt that the price was fair. What is that old saying about" In the eye of the beholder"? I will admit that there are probably more famous potters in that area but the items fit our decor and tastes.

I will tell you that we did NOT pay the price for a single item in SMA due to the "Gringo Pricing"! When vendors quote in $$$'s, it gave us a clue something was wrong! Hamburguesas for $90MXP and $40MXP for a CORONA at a sidewalk cafe on the square were a real clue! Additional T-shirts that we had seen in other areas 3 for $100MXP were $120 to $160MXP from exactly the same suppliers as we recognized the artwork and t-shirt quality. SMA was far worse than the area around the Lake!!!!!!
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

ken_in_dfw

Sep 15, 2009, 8:10 PM

Post #11 of 11 (4358 views)

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Re: [chinagringo] San Jose de Garcia

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Neil,

I have enjoyed several visits to San Miguel and I have never paid anything near $90 MXN for a hamburger. I'm not doubting that you found that on your visit. I've seen crazy prices like that when I'm there, too. I just choose to ignore such establishments.

What I do is focus on my homework ahead of time and try to enjoy some of the places that the locals enjoy. I think others have mentioned it, but Carol Schmidt's forum is an excellent resource for finding places that do not "market to the gringos." On my last visit, I had an incredible vegan sandwich with fruit salad at La Media Naranja that would shame the finest establishments here in Dallas, for the princely sum of $35 MXN. My point is that you find what you are looking for.

I will admit that some of this is a matter of perspective. Frankly, factoring in the USD-MXN conversion rate, $40 MXN for a Corona sounds pretty good to me about now. I WISH I could get a cold one for 3 bucks here in Dallas. It ain't happenin'.

Ken