It was one year ago that Mexico By Hand presented the exhibit, "En las Manos de las Mujeres", featuring the artesania of master craftswomen from Michoacán, Mexico. We were thrilled to be able to bring two of the women to the Bay Area, one of whom is maque artist, Martina Navarro Gonzalez, pictured here on the right. She has been a good friend since exhibiting with us at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market in 2005, and Martina's unique story, some of which she tells in our video (see link below), always fascinates those who have the opportunity to meet her. And of course there is the beautiful traditional art she creates. Maque is an ancient Purepecha lacquer art made with entirely natural materials: wood or gourds rubbed and encrusted with pigments made from plants and animals. There a very few artists remaining who do this work.
We were so excited to hear the fantastic news that Martina has won the most honored prize for folk art
to be bestowed on an artist in Mexico, and has been declared one of Mexico's "Living Legends"!! Here's the article published (in Spanish of course)
in El Universal. http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/cultura/70172.html
Here's one of my favorite pics of Martina and Herlinda Morales visit to the Bay Area, learning how to use chopsticks at a Berkeley Chinese restaurant.
Below is Martina Navarro of Uruapan, selling her maque pieces at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, where she represented artisans of Michoacán with Mexico By Hand.
Maque pieces by Martina Navarro are available for purchase at www.mexicobyhand.com.
As we in the United States get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, I am full of gratitude for both the talented Mexican artisans and our appreciative customers we have met through this small business known as Mexico By Hand. Below are a few of the hardworking artists who put their hearts and souls into the pieces they produce, the precious pieces we pack and ship to this country for you to buy and bring home-- so that you may add more pleasure to your lives. I give thanks to you, our dedicated fans and supporters who come to every sale, who express your appreciation for the art and encourage our efforts to continue bringing it to the U.S. We wouldn't be here without you.
We send you love and appreciation, and our wishes for many blessings for you and yours during the holidays.
Peggy Stein,
Mexico By Hand
Martina Navarro, maque
Zenaida Rafael Julian, clay sculpture
Herlinda Morales, clay candelabras
Martin Espicio, clay pots
Fernando Arroyo, lead free pottery
Felipe Horta, maskmaker
Jose Guadalupe Hernandez Cano, burnished pottery
Robert Castro Hernandez, hammered copper
Teofila Servin, embroidery
Ana Luisa Cano, weaving
To see and purchase folk art and crafts by these and other artisans of Michoacán, please go to our website at www.mexicobyhand.com. We thank you for your support!
If you're a left-leaning social progressive, there are some cultural
traditions that you would probably like to get rid of: patriarchy, child
abuse, and big game hunting to name a few. On the other hand, there are
some traditional cultural expressions that many of us recognize need
preserving-- and indigenous folk art and handmade crafts fit into that
category. When traditional art is also sustainable or "eco-friendly",
when artisans utilize natural resources and production techniques that
benefit the environment and the health of the local community, then that it is also progressive and something we should all support. And if purchasing a beautiful handmade piece of art to enrich our own lives is how we show our support for struggling artisans in Mexico, then that's a good thing to do because we all benefit.
Indigenous coastal artisans burnishing their pottery
Copper artisan from Santa Clara del Cobre
Since 2004, Mexico By Hand has been buying extraordinary
handmade traditional crafts and folk art directly from award-winning
artisans in Michoacán, Mexico. We feature beautiful handwoven baskets made from
pine needles, paper mache figures made from newspaper, and
gorgeous hammered copper vases created from 100% recycled copper scrap. We also seek out artisans who have converted to using lead-free glazes and create
beautiful food safe pottery, like these below:
If you appreciate the crafts you see here, please check out our website: www.mexicobyhand.com
and like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mexicobyhand.
Wholesale customers are welcome! Contact us at: info@mexicobyhand.com or call 510.526.6395
The state of Michoacán is home to four indigenous groups-- the Purepecha being the largest of those, and the culture that is responsible for most of the exquisite crafts and folk art from the region. The Purepecha, sometimes spelled Purhépecha, and also called Tarascan (but that's a long story) developed the most advanced pre-Columbian society in western Mexico. They resisted Aztec domination for decades, only to be brutally defeated by the Spanish in the early 16th century. Today the Purepecha number a little over 120,000.
The Purhépecha language has been called a hybrid Mesoamerican language. Some researchers have suggested that it is distantly related to Quechua, one of the man languages in the Andean zone of South America. For this reason, it has been suggested that the Purhépecha may have arrived in Mexico from Peru and may be distantly related to the Incas. The language also has some similarities to that spoken by the Zuni Indians of New Mexico.
The ancient Purepecha inhabitants were farmers and fishermen, but later became skilled weavers and became known for their feathered mosaics made from hummingbird plumage. With time, these gifted people also became skilled craftsmen in metalworking, pottery, and wood and stone carving. Below are a just a few of the pottery styles created by traditional Purepecha communities:
Burnished pots from Huancito
Marta Espicio of Huancito
Zenaida Rafael Julian, award-winning artist of Ocumicho
Glazed candelabras by Herlinda Morales of Santa Fe de la Laguna
Maque, a lacquerware made only in Michoacán, is a Pre-Columbian technique using pigments made from plants and insects.
Martina Navarro, master maque artisan
Hammered copper art has been made in the village of Santa Clara del Cobre going back about 500 years in small workshops like the one below.
Workshop of Roberto Castro Hernandez
Purepecha women in dozens of villages around the state make beautiful rebozos and embroidered blouses like those pictured here.
Cecilia Bautista, master weaver of Ahuiran
To see more art by extraordinary Purepecha artisans, please go to www.mexicobyhand.com where many items are available for purchase. Our mission is to promote the work of talented artisans of Michoacán. By bringing their beautiful handmade goods to a wider market, artists are able to support their families and communities and ensure that their traditions survive.
Question: What do you give the person who has everything?
Answer: Something beautiful made by someone who has next to nothing.
When that something will help sustain a family, a culture, and the Earth, then we can all smile.
I'm talking about sustainable crafts made by indigenous Mexican artisans: Handmade traditional pottery that is created from local clay deposits, decorated without lead or other chemicals that are harmful to the artisans, their families, and consumers. Use these bowls, plates, or pots to serve healthy, natural food and it will all look and taste better.
Use this lead-free clay cookware to cook your beans on the stove and then serve on your table. The beans will have more flavor and your guests will sing your praises. For more info. on CocinaSana, our clay cookware, go to www.cocinasanamexico.blogspot.com
Gorgeous hammered copper vases like these are made in Santa Clara del Cobre from 100% recycled copper...old telephone wire, pipe, and motor parts. Add one of these stunning pieces to your table, fill it with flowers and your life will be better...I promise. Give one to a friend or lover, and you will be spreading happiness.
Baskets made with pine needles from Mexico's forests, and tule reeds from Lake Patzcuaro-- all sustainable products that come from the Earth and can be used to beautifully serve your bread and tortillas. Say no to plastic, and yes to natural products that enhance our lives.
Support artisans who are trying to maintain their culture, their families and their communities by buying traditional, sustainable crafts. For more info. or to purchase, please go to: www.mexicobyhand.com
As we celebrate Women's History Month 2011, change is happening all over the world. From Egyptian women demonstrating their desire for democracy, to girls attending school for the first time in Afghanistan, to young women now outnumbering men in American universities. Recently I have personally encountered a profound change also going on in indigenous communities in our neighbor to the south-- Mexico. I hope to share with you the stories and struggles of these indigenous women, as they continue to create beautiful traditional art, working towards a better future for their children. Here are a few snippets from interviews with three women in Michoacán for my video, "En las manos de las mujeres": "I had the desire to continue my education after secondary school (8th grade) but my parents wouldn't let me. They said, 'Your brothers will study, but you're a woman...you don't need to study because you won't do anything with it.' My three brothers didn't care about getting an education so they didn't study further... and I, the one who wanted to study...they didn't allow me to."-- Herlinda Morales. Herlinda grew up in Santa Fe de la Laguna, a Purépecha Indian village on the edge of Lake Patzcuaro-- a place where girls and women usually need to ask the man of the house for permission to go out for any reason-- including to attend classes. Herlinda ignored the gossips and critics to participate in workshops for women artisans, where she learned how to get a better price for her pottery, and about the dangers of using leaded glazes on her clay candelabras. These were lessons that changed her life and caused her eleven years ago to convert her clay workshop to being lead-free, so that her family home and her community's environment would no longer be contaminated from the clay process. Herlinda says it is difficult to make change, but she is working so that her daughter will have a better life than the women who came before her. Here's an excerpt of an interview we did with Herlinda Morales.
Zenaida Rafael Julian (left) quit school in the 3rd grade when her father took off; her mother had to go to work and Zenaida was needed at home to cook and care for her siblings. At age 13, Zenaida's mother began to teach her daughter to make the painted clay figures the village of Ocumicho is known for. When her mother died, Zenaida at age 23 became the sole support of her four younger siblings. She now has 3 children of her own, and refuses to marry. "I prefer to stay single, that way no one can tell me I can't go to a festival or exhibit my art. Here, husbands scold their wives and don't let them leave... because they're jealous I think." This independent lifestyle has caused a lot of gossip in the village, but there is also a great deal of admiration and envy of Zenaida, as she has won dozens of local, state, and national prizes for her work, and today at age 39, is considered to be the finest artist in Ocumicho.
Teofila Servin Barriga (above) left her home on the Santa Cruz rancho near Tzintzuntzan and worked as a servant so that she could attend school in Patzcuaro. She said when she was a child looking up at the airplanes flying overhead, she never dreamed that one day she would be flying in one of those planes to the United States-- on her way to exhibit her embroideries at the prestigious Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. "One of the many things I've learned as an artisan is to value myself... I was afraid sometimes to leave my home-- it was a challenge. But this is the best school one could have in life...it's how we learn. Whatever the obstacle, if we make an effort, we women can make our dreams come true."
Folk art and crafts by these and other artisans of Michoacán is available for sale at: www.mexicobyhand.com If you would like to learn more about these women and their art, please support our campaign to create a 30 minute video and art exhibit. Here's how you can help:
I've written about the Hernandez Cano workshop several times before. They have been a favorite of ours for a long time, and it's great that these artisans are finally being recognized by others for their unique, beautiful burnished pottery featuring Pre-Columbian designs. Numerous of their pieces are now on display in the museum store of the de Young Museum in San Francisco-- to coincide with the upcoming Olmec exhibit. The Olmecs are most known for the their colossal stone heads and were considered to be the mother culture of Mesoamerica. This artisan workshop, located in Zinapecuaro, Michoacán, specializes in replicating an ancient pottery technique and Pre- Columbian designs. The photo above was taken at the workshop when we picked up the museum's order. Several pieces shown here are part of the stunning collection currently on sale at the de Young. The guys did their best work for this San Francisco show, and we are so pleased to be able to share it with folks in the Bay Area who appreciate fine Mexican crafts. I love the creativity of this family, and how they all work together, with the younger generation now taking more of a role in both creating new designs and managing the business. I'll never forget my surprise when my first big order in 2005 was written down with pencil on notebook paper. They still use spiral notebooks, but now I am able to place orders via email with Salvador Hernandez Cano's son, German. I am happy to see this technology come to rural Mexico, and thankful that their friendly, honest way of doing business has not changed one bit.
Salvador Hernandez Cano of Zinapecuaro.
If you're interested in seeing more of the burnished pottery from the Hernandez Cano family workshop, please contact Mexico By Hand at: www.mexicobyhand.com or call (510)526-6395
And check out our other blog posts on ceramics with Pre-Columbian designs.
