A conversation with Las Lunas metal artist Larry Madrid lightens your day with his sunny disposition and humorous take on life, work, and family. He traces the roots of his craft to 19th-century great-grandfathers who were metalsmiths. However, his own exploration began with his first paying job at nine years old, making ornamental window grates with a blow torch. Life on his family’s farm also demanded practical problem-solving. He recalls, with humor, helping his father adapt their horse-drawn Sycamore plow to work with a 1940s tractor, which had them bouncing around like popcorn as they worked the fields.
Larry Madrid’s Spanish Metalwork
Madrid credits his mother as the source of his fascination with comals and spoons, the useful and attractive metalwork objects he now makes for his Spanish Market clientele. “She just knew what worked, and I learned just about everything from her,” he remembers. “She would make tortillas at a wood stove with a metal comal, and she wanted every one of them perfect: not burned, cooked on the inside, but soft enough to fold.”
Creative Comals
Larry’s comals feature fine cuts in the metal, which allow extra heat to create patterns in the tortillas—stars, sacred hearts, and Zia symbols. Because of this distinctive touch, he has sold them to buyers as far away as Australia. Yet he insists they remain practical for everyday use and inexpensive enough for anyone to purchase. “They catch the eye, and that’s what gets people into my booth,” he explains.
Crafting Copper Spoons
Madrid’s copper spoons are another Spanish Market treasure. Each copper bowl is joined with a single rivet to a sturdy iron handle. “They’re simple, but they require technique,” he says. Copper sheets must be annealed to burn away impurities and to soften the metal. This process takes time, but, the result is worth it. “If you’re in the kitchen all day long, taking pride in feeding your family, you deserve something nice to look at while you’re there.”
Story by Keith Recker
Photography by Tira Howard
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