Only A Taste
Gerardo Ortega
Mexico

One of many, and sharing with other sets the many classical features of Christmas, Ortega's prize-winning figures give us only a taste of what the Christmas event may mean to us. Taste is what counts. It makes a difference. It adds a new color, and gives a second identity to what has become all too familiar and fits our mind like a worn and comfortable glove. Tasting, which should lead to developing-a-taste-for, is the beginning of interest and of a possible future commitment. This set attempts to do just that. Figures and setting are of "ordinary" beauty but the many exquisite details show that the artist has made the message of the nativity his own.

This birth story in painted and glazed terra-cotta is like a beginning gospel. It reveals the significance of Jesus in miniature, and helps us to acquire a taste for him and the more adult features of his message.