Re-wiring ... since 2020¶

My journey starts with my mum´s Canadian Singer (dated 1950) and the beauty of YouTube. It was easy to find tutorials to restore, clean and use this incredible piece of engineering. With a little bit of patience and the help of David, my husband, things started materializing into my first projects.

Photo: Tere de León, Carboncillo style by ChatGpt(2026)

As COVID restrictions went away, I started going out looking for fabrics. With no previous references, I bought all the wrong things and started noticing the big differences between linen, cotton, silk, rayon, woven, knitted, etc. I realized that the major impact on me of having had an office job for 22 years is that I never stopped to question myself about the making of my clothes or of the making/fabrication of ANYTHING at all.

My Singer soon moved into sewing, crocheting, composting, growing suculentas, jewelry and my latest and biggest passion: ceramics.

I´m still a very early learner, but committed to doing my 10,000 hours learning process in the shortest time. I´ve learned that the ceramics community in Cholula is still very much alive (Cholula used to be an important ceramic place back in the Pre-hispanic years) through new generations, more knowledge and much more possibilities through collective experimentation.

So... in my Re-wiring process I want to continue experimenting through the amazing methodology of Fabricademy and the people that will join me in Ibero Puebla, and found new frontiers in creativity. I am very much focused to designing and creating lamps, their bases, shades and their potential as members of a home. It will be a challenge considering I have no arts, design, engineering or any technical background, but it will be exciting.

About me¶

Photo: self portrait, Carboncillo style by ChatGpt (2026)

I am a science-based entrepreneurial professional (Country Manager of a Venture Capital Fund & 22 years in the Science & Technology Ministry) and teacher (Tec de Monterrey, Puebla). I have an amazing and supportive husband (David: British & an astrophysicist); a gorgeous wild-life manager daugther (Fernanda) and a very talented creative cinematographer son (Alejandro).

Photo by a wedding planner, Carboncillo style by ChatGpt (2025)

David and I live in Cholula, Puebla, México; Fer lives in Cabo San Lucas and Alejandro in México City. We enjoy diving, making pottery, cooking, chilling and eating together every time we can.

I am 60 years old and very blessed to continue to spend time with my mum (90 years old) and I have an amazing brother (Angel) with whom, and with his partner (Rafa), we share wonderful times together.

My background & previous work¶

In the process ... clay, construction, measuring, sensing, the wheel, glazes, what is a lamp? mechanical components? suppliers? everything in process ... every new challenge a new exciting door.

Photos by Tere de León, Carboncillo style by ChatGpt (2026) edited in ChatGPT

My creations¶

My journey is still short but very intense. Here are some examples of initial pottery pieces like my "she" and "he" pots (I should include the finished versions soon), my rocks totem (which are now in the process of becoming base lamps), some of old knitting projects with cotton and some Argentinian super soft wool & silk yarn, my ceramics cute monster. Of my favorites: my first digital crocheting pattern, my dying & stitch pillow case and the latest: me with Juan Ortí on a private pottery session on the wheel.

Photos by Tere de León (2025 & 2026) using piccollage editor

These two are my first lamps finished. The base is hand made (both manual construction and the wheel) with low temperature clay made by local ceramics workshops and two different glazes; for the Key Blocks lamp the glaze is made by Terracota Cerámica and its calles "Keys" and for the Tiny Bug one is a commercial Mayco EL118. The lamp shade for Key Blocks is a commercial one from IKEA.

Local ceramic workshops are growing in Cholula, Puebla which I believe is an homage to the Prehispanic relevance in ceramics.

Key Blocks @Tere de León-Manual construction/low temperature clay *Photo by Tere de León (2026). *

Tiny Bug @Tere de León-Wheel-thrown/low temperature clay Photo by Tere de León (2026)

My motivation¶

I want to bring rigor and commitment to my creative practice. Becoming a maker has grown into an obsession: a desire to understand materials deeply, acquire technical fluency, and develop a creative language of my own. I am particularly interested in the relationships among ceramics, textiles, biomaterials, light, digital fabrication, and sustainable design.

Fabricademy at IBERO IDT offers the interdisciplinary and hands-on environment I need for my process. I want to learn how traditional craft and emerging technologies can work as one, and how material experimentation can lead to objects that are both beautiful and responsible. The program would help me move beyond informal exploration toward a disciplined practice grounded in research, documentation, prototyping, communication and collaboration.

I believe I can contribute a distinctive perspective to the Fabricademy community. My experience has taught me how to connect disciplines, translate between different professional cultures, guide uncertain projects, and recognize the potential of ideas at an early stage. At the same time, I am eager to enter the program with the openness of a beginner—to listen, experiment, make mistakes, and learn from others.