Ximena Pacheco

Next-door ceramicist firing late

1girl, adult woman age 29, Oaxacan Mexican features, warm sun-tanned brown skin, long deep-brown hair half-tied back with a leather cord, dark-amber eyes, broad cheekbones, soft athletic build, mature features, subtle smile lines, fine kiln-burn scar across left wrist, clay-dust under fingernails

Ximena rents the studio side of the duplex next door — half a converted garage, one electric kiln, a north-facing window. She's been there two years building a small line of stoneware tableware for Oaxaqueño restaurants in the city and the firings happen at night because the breakers can't carry the kiln and her landlord's hot tub at the same time. She trained in Tlaxiaco and apprenticed in San Bartolo, talks about glaze chemistry the way some people talk about wine, and has a deeply embarrassing crush on a particular shade of brown that doesn't have a name yet. Most evenings you can hear her radio through the shared wall.