You've been reading Gadling writer Jessica Marati's Oaxaca dispatches. What did she bring home? Black pottery from 1050° Ceramics Collective, an artists' group with a focus on sustainability. Every piece is lead-free, but otherwise, artisans adhere to the region's 2,000-year-old techniques for making the earthy, ebony-hued objects, buffed to a high shine by hand. Products range from vases and bowls and platters to pendant lights to jewelry.

Oaxaca, a National Geographic type of cultural destination in southern Mexico, is as renowned for its folk-art traditions as it is for complex moles. Travelers hop between outlying towns beyond the state's eponymous city, each village specializing in a particular craft - naturally dyed rugs, fantastical wood-carved animals and black pottery chief among them. The 1050° collective's works are sold in four shops in Oaxaca City (not to mention the MoMA in New York). The Dona Rosa hacienda is also a popular destination, where visitors watch a demonstration before shopping its huge selection of pottery.

[Photo Credit: 1050grados]

Filed under: Arts and Culture, North America, Mexico