Navarrete, Eli

“You can turn a gray pot black, with a little bit of graphite and manganese rubbed into the surface. Then it takes a little bit of this and a little bit of that…” – Eli speaking about his “secret sauce”

Eli Navarrete Ortiz was born in Chihuahua City and moved to Mata Ortiz as a teenager. His uncle, Macario Ortiz, taught Eli and his two brothers (Jesus and Cesar) how to make pottery.

Somehow, the three brothers got hooked on the idea of painting multiple colors on graphite blackware. Other potters had experimented before and gotten mixed results but Eli pushed the technique hard and reached new levels, technically and artistically. Then the brothers worked hard to keep their process secret. Most of the secret is in how they do the slipping and burnishing of the pot to arrive at a properly dark and usable surface.

Over the top of the dark surface Eli paints whimsical designs in blue, green, red and white mineral paints, sometimes using as many as five different colors. Unlike most Porvenir potters, Eli doesn’t repeat the same design over and over across the surface as he paints. Instead, he paints complicated designs that sometimes include up to five different animals hidden in a base design of interlocking Paquimé Revival animals and forms.