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Márcia do Barro (Márcia Aparecida Messias de Oliveira) says she started working with clay 9 years ago. “I always say my teacher is God. It all started when I got desperate one day because I had no money to pay the rent. I looked out of the window and asked God to give me something to help me. I normally cook in the backyard, so I went outside to fetch some firewood. All of a sudden a tractor appeared, lifting up the earth and throwing a piece of clay onto my path. I thought it was beautiful, and thought I would come back for it. And so it was. I started moulding the clay and made lots of little pieces. The following day a lady came by, inviting me to go to São Paulo to work for her. I didn’t want to go. When she saw the pieces, she said she wanted to buy all of them. They were still unfired, but she still wanted to take them. And that’s how I was able to pay the rent!” The way Márcia tells her story, it all sounds very simple. The clay came from a factory nearby, and she soon realised she should fire her pieces. “I used to put a bowl on my head to fetch the clay. I built a kiln in the backyard, but it’s small. I made some large pieces, but I couldn’t fire them and many fell apart.” Márcia now has no clay to work with, because the factory has shut down. But she is looking elsewhere. Meanwhile, she paints her pieces, paints the walls of her house and draws on any piece of paper she can find. Márcia was born in Capão Bonito (SP) in 1951. |
