and in my halting Spanish told them they were now free to design anything they wanted at anytime. They were obviously shaken; for them "designers" were either god-like people or Americans and they immediately began to copy the cheap seconds that at that time flooded Puerto Rico. I let them get that out of their systems and some three months later they began designing things they thought would please me. "Little by little I began encouraging them to use "found tools:" a broken hair comb - I picked up from the floor in front of them, used and discarded pencils - showing them the faceted sides and rounded eraser end as options. One of the best tools turned out to be old fashioned hair pins women wore in the forties. "What emerged was an expression which can properly be described as a considerable leap beyond sgraffito. When using colored engobes (thin coatings of different colored clays over the redware clay body we were using) instead of thinly scratching through to reveal the contrasting red clay beneath they made strong, broad, energetic sculptural carvings if you will. Matte glazes were used almost invariably to more thoroughly reveal the sculptural "carving" technique. Each person signed their own design work and had the satisfaction of seeing their initials permanently fired into their pieces. They were free at any time to stop any work they were doing and create their own designs. "During this period of time I made it my business to keep away from the work table area where they did the designing. I didn't want even my presence near them to interfere with their own self expression. I would wait until they had left for the day to go into the damp room where the daily work was placed for slow initial drying to see what creatively had emerged. Imagine, if you will, the profound thrill I would experience as with each ongoing week the design "personalities" of each would become more strongly expressed so that it was no longer necessary to look for each signature to determine whose work it was.". Significance The pottery's significance was twofold. Artistically and culturally it was a melding of 20th century design on what was then a traditional culture. It was also the first time that Puerto Rican artisans were able to express themselves freely in clay since the time of the Taínos. Economically