Mercedes Muñoz amazes Juneau with her one of a kind glazes

Sunday, July 30, 2023 at 1:05 PM

By Jasz Garrett

Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Mercedes Muñoz released a summer ceramic collection Sunday morning at the Rie Muñoz gallery.

The doors opened at 10:00 a.m. People were lining up as early as 9:00 a.m. because they had their eyes on a specific piece they were anxious to get their hands on. They had seen Muñoz's new work teased on her social media. The line began to wrap around the building at 9:30 a.m.

As soon as the doors opened, shoppers were carrying armfuls of mugs, bowls, platters, and more to the check-out stand.

At the check-out stand was the artist's family. Her mother, father, brother, cousin, husband, and daughter all worked together to check people out and wrap their pottery to take home safely.

Last year was Muñoz's first time showcasing a collection at her grandmother's gallery. She had previously done shows in her home studio, and in 2022 she moved her studio into the Rie Muñoz gallery. Muñoz said her grandmother attended her first-ever art show at Annie Kaills three days before passing away at 93 years old.

"It's special to be in this space," she said.

The summer collection released Sunday had been in the works since April of 2023.

"I usually start with throwing forms and I just get into a creative flow and make what makes me happy. You can see there's some like common themes. I did a lot with the rainbows and then also those new glazes, but there's also so much different work. Part of my favorite thing about pottery is just making lots of one-of-a-kind pieces," she said. "Each time I create a body of work, there's a similar thread, but it continues to evolve and change and I add to it or tweak it to make a design more complex."

Something new in the 2023 summer collection was her use of Amaco Brent glazes. Muñoz said this allowed her to experiment with glaze combinations in ways she hadn't before.

"Recently I had one of my favorite glaze companies reach out to me to test some of their newer glazes. And they're these beautiful flux glazes that when you layer them on top of each other, they just create these incredible effects," she said. "I've been having a lot of fun playing with those. So, a lot of the work you see here in the show has these beautiful glazes that all need to be hand painted on in multiple layers to create that cool effect."

It was also her first time sharing her paintings. 6 original watercolor paintings were showcased for the first time Sunday.

"They're primarily watercolor with a little bit of gouache detail too. I have been painting for a long time. But this is the first time I've ever shared my paintings. And I'm very excited to be doing that. Something that I really enjoy doing and I feel like it really complements my pottery," she said. "It's like bringing the designs that I do on pottery into 2D. But like, with watercolor, on 2D paper, you have so much more control than you do with pottery because of the kiln. You never know quite what will happen with the kiln sometimes. So, it's been really fun to be able to explore that too."

Another new addition to this collection was large round platters that came with hangars to display as art or to be used as a serving platter.

Below: Mercedes Muñoz's watercolor paintings are hung above her ceramic works and framed alongside her grandmother's watercolor paintings in the Rie Muñoz gallery. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett/KINY)

Below: The common phrases of Mercedes Muñoz: 'Ask for what you want', 'stop saying sorry', 'I'm not going to lie...', 'I don't know what I want', and 'I could be wrong'. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett/KINY)

Muñoz gave some insight into her inspiration for the pictured mugs above.

"It was the first thing I started in the new year after decompressing from like the holidays and all that. I didn't know what I wanted to make, but I wanted to do something different, and again, what would make me happy right now?" she shared. "I started thinking about these phrases that mostly I say or things that I'm saying to myself, maybe, like 'stop saying sorry'. They were just playful and different."

Where her next collection will be released, Muñoz isn't so sure; she said she loves having her work at her grandmother's gallery, but she also likes to collaborate with other local businesses in town. As for when, she aims for one show in the summer and another in the winter each year, along with online sales throughout. Her last winter collection was released in December of 2022 at Amalga Distillery.

Whatever didn't sell during the July 2023 release will remain at the gallery, which is open Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It's located at 2101 Jordan Avenue.

Below: Muñoz (left) chats with customers while her mom helps wrap purchases (back left). (Photo credit Jasz Garrett/KINY)

"I love seeing people find pieces that they love, and be able to enjoy them every day, it's so cool," Muñoz said. "I feel so thankful for the turnout, for everybody that came out for this event, and for all of the support and kind words people have shared with me."

Below: More of Muñoz's summer collection. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett/KINY)