Rodriguez, Alfredo

Alfredo Freddy Rodriguez is a potter from the village of Mata Ortiz in northern Mexico. He most likely learned to make pottery from his cousin, Armando Rodriguez but his early work also showed a significant influence from another cousin: Manuel Manolo Rodriguez.

More recently, Freddy has been producing a lot of black and white sgraffito Day of the Dead and Night of the Dead designs on his pots, in addition to his contemporary black-on-beige painted designs.

Alfredo is married to potter Diana Loya and they often collaborate on their projects. She learned how to do sgraffito designs from Alfredo. They live in the Barrio Americano neighborhood in Mata Ortiz.

Alfredo and Diana taught their son, Emiliano Rodriguez, how to make pottery, too. He also likes to make sgraffito designs, although he’s developed designs that are a bit different from those of his folks. Later Diana taught her mom, Maria Saenz, how to make pottery, too.