Luíza

Maria Luiza Santos was born in 1930 in Taubaté, State of São Paulo. Like many potters, she learned to model the clay when still a child during family recreation. She became a professional and enhanced her technique by watching her older sister Edith. With her and her other sister Maria Candida, she created a vast repertoire of work. The three sisters were encouraged by São Paulo researcher Rossini Tavares to specialise in scenes of regional folklore. They travelled and disseminated their work, displaying at a number of exhibitions, especially in towns in upstate São Paulo. For many years they were in the forefront of the Taubaté Folk Festival that made Imaculada Street famous, on the outskirts of the town.