Leonel Lopez Saenz, Mata Ortiz sgraffito skunk design jar

In 1992, the land of Chihuahua suffered from drought, and Leone lost his job in the fields. So, in his spare time he helped his wife, Elena Rodriguez sand her pots and learned the basics of pottery making. Leone Lopez is considered one of the most successful potters in Mata Ortiz. He mainly uses the sgraffito style (which he began using in 1995) to etch or scratch a variety of intricately designed animals and birds on his ceramics. He purchases unfired pots from various potters and then proceeds to sand and polish the surfaces. Then, he applies black or red clay slip to cover the surfaces. Leone uses a small pocket knife or dental pick to cut the surface down precisely to the white clay (which provides the greatest contrast) to uncover the design or animal images. Leone has developed a distinctive style and utilizes common motifs such as: symmetrical feathers surrounding the rims of his pieces, dancing and frolicking animals, swimming fish, leaping deer, crawling lizards, active grasshoppers jumping and crawling all over the surface of the pot, geometric designs, nativity scenes and day of the dead/night of the dead motifs. Leone is considered the prominent potter in Barrio Lopez—which is where his extended family lives. Leone is the husband to Elena Rodriguez Guillen, and has 2 children: Leonale Lopez Rodriguez and Abel Lopez Rodriguez.

Lowell, S.; The Many Faces of Mata Ortiz, Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, 1999: 108.
http://galeriadetomas.com/GALERIA_ArtistInfo.asp
https://www.tannerchaney.com/info/artist/lopez