Armando Martins

CLAY RUNS
IN HIS VEINS

When you can’t tell hand from material and a perfect harmony emanates from the moment of creation, that’s when magic happens. Armando Martins grew up in the pottery of his father, which was already that of his grandfather. He would wake at dawn in the depth of winter to knead the clay with his feet, before setting off to school. Aged nine, he was already working at the wheel. He would take part in every phase of the process, from extracting the clay from the pit close to his house, to its preparation, using artisanal methods. At this time, the machines used were very rudimentary and, while still a child, he seriously injured his hand. He lost mobility in one finger, but his hands retained the sensitivity that could only come from this magical relationship with the material. It is at his potter’s wheel that he feels complete, as if it were part of him. After all, he has been making alcatruz clay vases, for catching octopuses, for 40 years. As plastic sent orders for ecological alcutruz vases plummeting overnight, Armando Martins discovered another talent: teaching (and always with a smile from ear to ear).