Apprenticeships
Naming ceremony at Felipe's house.
Occasionally, Felipe is willing to take on an apprentice, who is interested in learning how to create Traditional Micaceous pottery.
An apprenticeship with Felipe is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the traditions of creating micaceous pottery as well as an opportunity to experience life in the house of a Jicarilla Apache medicine man. During an apprenticeship, you will be completely part of the household and expected to help with all aspects of life there, including preparation for Sweat Lodges, working in the kitchen as well as learning in depth about micaceous clay and making pottery. It is an intense and rich time & you will leave with a solid grounding in the use of micaceous clay and the skill to create beautiful pottery.
Duties & Expectations
On a normal day, apprentices are expected to be available from 8am on, each morning. Duties will include preparation of the studio, setting up of workspaces and tools. There will be time for pottery lessons and apprentices are also expected to help with sanding and polishing of Felipe's work. Other duties will include digging & cleaning clay and preparing it for sale or use in the studio.
At times, there will be special events in the household and apprentices are expected to take part in helping with these events, as part of the life of the household. The duties may be as diverse as kitchen preparation and learning to cook with an horno, to cleaning out the Sweat Lodge or gathering lava rocks for use in lodge.
Life will be varied and interesting. An openness and willingness to go with the flow and to be part of life at Owl Peak Studio is an absolute must! You need to be a self starter and to be able to take oral instruction.
Felipe reserves the right to terminate the apprenticeship at any time.
It is not a type of apprenticeship that appeals to everyone but if you are interested, contact for details on how to apply.
‘… in the summer of 1999, I met Jicarilla Apache master potter Felipe Ortega who introduced me to his wild micaceous clay and the freedom of hand built micaceous pottery.
Once my hands felt this clay I could never look at the world of pottery the same. Everything I had learned about pottery was thrown out the window and I started down a new path of clay. I felt free from the boundaries of wheel thrown pottery.
Using a coil and scrape method has
taken many years of hard work and diligence to achieve the results you
see today.’
Brian Grossnickle