The Ken Edwards Pottery of Tonala

Last Saturday, Kelly and I and some friends drove from our home near Lake Chapala into the greater Guadalajara area, to the city of Tonala (population about half a million) on the southeastern edge of the urban area.

We were on a mission: dishes. Tonala is famous throughout Mexico and beyond for the fine ceramics and many other crafts that come from this creative city. Many of the items made are sold in nearby Tlaquepaque, at considerably higher prices.

Kelly and I had been there a couple of times before, but the last time had been over twenty years ago. We remembered a rather rural town. No more! It's very much a city now.

I remembered going to the pottery factory and workshop of an American, Ken Edwards, who lived and worked in the area. Edwards is now living and doing pottery in Guatemala, but the workshop continues in Tonala:
We spent the morning looking in other stores. There's a wonderful store with all sorts of Mexican crafts right on the plaza in Tonala, La Mexicania, and we lingered in there a good while. Both the other woman and I emerged with lovely nativity sets.

We had delicious chicken fajitas or enchiladas for lunch at Restaurant El Rincon del Sol, a couple of blocks south of the plaza. Here's the entryway to the restaurant. Unfortunately you can't see the empty tequila bottle in the dummy's hand!

After lunch it was time for the main course of the day: those dishes we'd come for. The Ken Edwards workshop is north of the plaza and a little east, at Morelos 184.

The dishes we selected were much like these. They were seconds, but it was easy to find ones with very minor flaws. We walked out of there with a huge, well-packed box of dishes for which we had spent barely over a hundred dollars. We're having so much fun with them that Kelly is going to get some more when he goes into Guadalajara soon for a dental appointment!