Our Family

           So what kind of family are we? Glad you asked.  My name is David Gordon.  I am 67 years old and starting a new life.  After graduating from Columbia College and driving a New York City cab for a year, I got drafted into the peacetime Army where I spent much of the time escaping to the coffee houses of Heidelberg, Germany.  I came back after my two years in the peacetime Army to open a coffee house with entertainment, in Greenwich Village, New York City called Phase 2.  The talent available in the mid l960’s turned out to be Bill Cosby, Joan Rivers, Peter Paul and Mary, Richard Pryor and Simon and Garfunkel,  and included a singer name Bob Zimmerman (who I thought was awful) and later turned out to be Bob Dylan (I can’t say I never made a mistake).  This period lasted 6 years.  Toward the end of it, I met a man who had just started his own film Company. We hit it off. Playing poker together, I joined him and he taught me about film and video.  Eventually, I formed my own company with a partner and did documentaries, Corporate image work and commercials. Finally I joined ABC as an independent producer/Director.  I did 42 half hour programs on photographers, architects, crafts people and the like for many years before I opened my own company again. In 1996,  I sold my company to a friend in New York City, where it is thriving today.  I won an Emmy in the mid 90’s and figured that was a fitting cap to my career.  When a teenage receptionist at a major studio didn’t know what an Emmy was, I knew it was time to turn in my spurs.  I was in my 60’s and I felt I wanted to move on to new challenges.
        The move included relocation from New York City to San Diego where my then 6-year-old daughter could grow up and I could grow old.  It was an open door to a new life.  One thing I knew:  my eyes, heart and interest were trained to find something special and artistic.  Mata Ortiz pots awaited me.

          Hi, I’m Tara Gordon, David’s wife. I should say I’m eleven years younger than my husband, basically a young thing! I grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, argued with my parents, moved to Dayton, Ohio argued with my parents, beat up on my two brothers and generally raised hell until I was sent to boarding school in Troy New York which I loved.  Between boarding school and college, 1963-64 I took a trip around the world for a year, living with l4 different families and visiting 16 different countries.  I was 18 years old, and this trip changed my life. I learned to appreciate the beauty and art that other countries had to offer.  After the year I came back to the United States, went to college in Ohio, and then finished my Bachelors at the New School for Social Research in New York City. 
          I finally went straight after graduation, and became a graphic designer for art galleries, museums and artists in New York City because it was the only job that allowed me to wear blue jeans to work.  My clients included many of the major art galleries in New York City.  Not only did I design for galleries but also I bought contemporary art.  I began a PhD. in Art History ten years ago and to date have finished the MA part of it.  Our family landed in a wonderful building on Riverside Drive overlooking the Hudson River where we lived for sixteen years until we came to San Diego.  
          In 1989, having unsuccessfully tried to get pregnant, David and I adopted a two-day-old baby girl, now our much loved daughter, Samantha. 
          Samantha, or Sammy is a piece of work.  She is enormously quick and bright.  As a baby her body never stopped moving and that is the way she is today.  She is  a good student and a gifted swimmer, a terrific soccer player and an inventor of games with no equal.  As a preteen she is busting her boundaries and our limits.  A happy child with a wonderful smile, we include her in most of our trips to the village.  Coincidentally, on the way to Mata Ortiz we pass through Bisbee, Arizona where Sammy was adopted.