At 72, Cuenca ceramicist Eduardo Segovia shows no sign of slowing down. On most days, in fact, you can find him working in his Cuenca studio.

"I still have the enthusiasm for creation. I can't imagine life without it," says Segovia. "Every day, I absorb the colors, the textures, and the themes of the world around me and I am compelled to give these things shape."

In his 60-year career, Segovia's work has encompassed a stunning range of styles and themes, from the Incan and Aztec and other pre-Columbian cultures to African, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian, from the classical to the modern, from the whimsical to the serious.

Most of all, says Segovia, he is inspired by themes and materials close to Cuenca.

"The Chola Cuencana influence is at the center of all my work. It is a gift that was given to me by my heritage, especially by my mother," he says. "I am also very fortunate to have some of the best raw materials in the world to work with, the wonderful clays from Cuenca."

Segovia credits the breadth and diversity of his work to being primarily self-taught. "I have no advanced formal training. My teachers have been books and works of art I have seen in person." He takes inspiration where he finds it, he says, much of it from Latin American artists, but also from Europeans, such as Picasso and Miro.

Segovia's artistic life began when he was in grade school when Carlos Crespi, the Italian-born Salesian monk, anthropologist, archeologist, and Cuenca headmaster, recognized the young artist's talent and transferred him to a school specializing in the arts.

By the time he was 10, Segovia had molded thousands of clay whistles that he sold around Cuenca. Although each whistle sold for pennies, his sales volume produced enough revenue for a comfortable income, lifting his family out of poverty.

One of the highlights of Segovia's career was working with Ecuador's greatest artist, Oswaldo Guayasamin. He assisted the famous painter and sculptor on several projects, including large ceramic murals displayed in public spaces around Ecuador. When Guayasamin died in 1999, his family asked Segovia to complete work on two unfinished ceramic murals at Guayasamin's Capilla del Hombre (Chapel of Man) in Quito.

Segovia has also established a reputation in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, where he has had several exhibitions. In 2009, he taught 60 graduate ceramics students in the workshop of noted Dutch sculptor Marié Verdijk. His work and teaching were the subjects of a Dutch television documentary, showcasing not just his artistry, but his enthusiasm and sense of humor. He returned to the Netherlands in the spring of 2011, where he presented another exhibition with Dutch painter and illustrator, Anna Reinders, in Tilburg.

A May exhibition in Cuenca, at Larrazabal Gallery on San Sebastian Plaza, reflected the European influences in Segovia's recent work. "In Latin America, we live in a rainbow of bright colors. In Europe, because of the history and climate, the palate is simpler and more somber," he says. "In the pieces I displayed at Larrazabal, I use the grays and blacks, with orange and red accents, that are central to life in the Netherlands."

Reflecting on his long career, Segovia notes that his life has been lived close to the earth. "I hope to continue working for many years, but I will never forget my Cuencano roots and the materials all around me. I came from mud, I work in mud, and when I die, I will return to mud."

Eduardo Segovia's studio and showroom are located at the artist's home in Cuenca, on Vega Munoz 22-30 at Luis Pauta. Visits can be arranged by phone, at 282-4707.

Credit: Reposted from the Miami Herald, International Edition, August 31, 2011; Photo caption: the artist in his Cuenca showroom.