Copper Connections

Musings from the February 2011 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

Lourdes (Lulu) and Alfredo operate two businesses in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacan, Mexico. Lulu manages the decorative copper shop called Casa Felicitas near the zocalo and Alfredo oversees the construction of furniture with copper panels in a business called Dona Mariquita. They are an amazing couple; fun, energetic, serious about their business, and very hard-working.

This photo was taken at the furniture exposition in Guadalajara last February. We met up with Lulu and Alfredo at the end of a long day. I must have taken dozens of shots of this dynamic couple and almost none turned out. Lulu is so expressive and energetic she's a blur on most photos.

Most of the furniture at the exposition is quite imposing, perfect for hacienda-style homes. We buy selectively knowing that many of our customers have small homes or condos. No matter the size, the copper and distressed wood is warm and inviting. And there's always a sip of tequila to warm the spirit while shopping!

We often write of forays into the hinterlands of Mexico, but in this case we travel to a huge exposition center in Guadalajara to visit our friends. There's nothing rustic about this venue! We usually breathe a sigh of relief when we leave big metropolitan areas preferring the pace of small town life in Mexico.

 

This photo of the zocalo in Santa Clara del Cobre is more indicative of our preference. One can spend ours watching people and the life of the small town. But, we seldom have time for that! When in Santa Clara del Cobre we're shopping for the perfect copper pieces for Chiripa. That always includes time with Lulu and Alfredo. 

You can see some of the copper on the Chiripa website.

Beautiful, But Sad

From the log kept by JM on the August 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

August 20, 2010. We arrived in the village of Santa Clara del Cobre after the close of it's annual Copper Fair. The craftsmen of Santa Clara create some of the finest hand-hammered copper in the world, and each year they display their very best work at the copper Fair.

Some of the pieces from the fair were still on display, and they were as stunning as in the past years. But this year, according to frequent prize winner Roberto Castro, the annual fair was muy triste (very sad). The Mexican economy is in trouble, and attendance at the fair was poor.

That was costly and disappointing for the artisans who risked much of their annual livelihood to create prize-winning pieces for the exhibition. An artisan may spend months creating a single piece. Copper (from scrap) is repeatedly fired, water-cooled and hammered into shape (the finest pieces are created from a single piece of metal). The artisan then works carefully, with smaller specialized hammers, to bring out the surface design and characteristic red glow of the finished metal. In the hands of a skilled artisan, the result is a glorious work of museum-quality art. The elegant final shape will last for hundreds of years.

Although we missed the Copper Fair this year we did manage to bring home some fine copper pieces. At Chiripa, you can find a wide selection of hand-hammered copper to suit your taste and budget. Your purchases help preserve the copper craft in Santa Clara del Cobre.

Copper, Furniture, Guns and Gorditas

Text from JM's log on the Feb/March 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

February 23, 2010

Lourdes (“Lulu”) and Alfredo are a good team. Alfredo designs and builds the gorgeous wood and copper furniture you see at Chiripa. Lulu is a perpetual motion machine – the lively and engaging face of the family copper business. As we discussed hand-hammered copper and furniture, a neighbor lady came by offering homemade gorditas. We thought they were delicious, and a passing local patrol of heavily-armed federales apparently agreed.

The military presence is an unfortunate sign of the times in some parts of Mexico. Later, after visiting several other copper workshops, we had a more elaborate meal of pasta and shrimp prepared by Renaissance-man Alfredo. Muy sabroso!

Casa Felicitas, Lulu's domain
in Santa Clara de Cobre, Michoacan, Mexico

Patzcuaro and Santa Clara del Cobre

A post from the log that JM kept on the August 09 buying trip to Mexico for Chiripa. -kl

We were up again at dawn – this time for a 5-hour bus ride from San Miguel to Patzcuaro in the cool wooded highlands of Michoacán. We love many places in Mexico, but Patzcuaro is a special favorite.

We always stay at Los Escudos, a comfortable and economical hotel on the beautiful Plaza Quiroga – one of the oldest and finest public spaces in the Americas. We also like to eat breakfast at the nearby Mansión Iturbe Hotel (another venerable hotel located in a former colonial mansion). It offers lots of hot coffee, wonderful fresh fruit, local specialties like “corundas,” and an accompanying assortment of pastries including old-fashioned “rosettes” like your aunt or grandmother used to make.


Today, we stopped at our hotel just long enough to check in. Then we walked to the intersection near the edge of the downtown, where we caught the bus for the copper village of Santa Clara del Cobre. Six pesos (less than 50 cents at today’s exchange rate) will take you the 15 miles or so to Santa Clara.

The annual Copper Fair is in full swing in Santa Clara. The plaza in front of the church is festooned with bright paper banners (“papel picado” like you see in Chiripa). A hundred colorfully-dressed dancers (some armed with little bows and arrows) ward off a scary array of costumed evil spirits -- all to the oompah sound of a brass band.

At the local Copper Museum, there is a stunning display of hand-hammered copper. These are works of the highest art – easily qualified for display in the world’s best museums. But they are all produced right here in Santa Clara, by artisans who devote months of labor to each piece. The artisans are competing against their friends and neighbors, and the rivalry is fierce. A first-place award is a great honor.

Most of the displayed works were far out of our price range, but we bought a number of other fine pieces from the Castro Hernandez family, which captured 2 of 5 prestigious first-place awards at this year’s show. You will soon be able to find these elegant pieces at Chiripa, at very reasonable prices.


We returned to Santa Clara the next morning. But today the Copper Fair was interrupted by rain. Not just the usual gentle mist – but a fearful deluge. At this altitude (Santa Clara sits at over 7,000 feet), the lightening and thunder make your hair stand on end. The rain hammered down, and torrents of water poured down the cobbled streets like mountain rivers. A woman swept at the tide rising over the curb, trying to keep it out of her shop.


Fortunately, the curbs are high, and many sidewalks are sheltered by deep overhanging roofs. For the most part, the people just took the deluge in stride.


To all appearances, Mexico is the same beautiful place as ever. But there are some storms raging, and some dark currents flowing beneath the surface. The state of Michoacán faces serious economic difficulties, and young men have emigrated in droves. Some of those who remain have been drawn into gangs and drug violence. We felt completely safe, and saw no evidence of the violence portrayed in the news media. But it is on the minds of many people here.

Over coffee, one business owner confided to us that she is careful about what she says at parties, because “you never know for sure who is involved in what.” Neither she nor her family have ever received any threats, but she hears rumors of extortion and “protection money” schemes. Even legitimate business success can cause resentment in hard-pressed communities. And in today’s climate, businesses are forced to lay off workers who have no safety net. Job losses are making everything worse.


Back in Patzcuaro, another deluge hit in the late afternoon. Waterfalls leaped from the overhanging roofs, slid down big banana leaves in interior courtyards, and splashed on the stone pavement. But melancholy Patzcuaro, with its 400-year-old adobe walls and red tile roofs, has endured many storms. It just hunkers down and waits. -JM August 12 and 13, 2009

Day 10: Back to Santa Clara del Cobre

Thursday, August 13: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

Today's plan is to hop on a bus back out to Santa Clara del Cobre to meet with Lulu and Alfredo and to take in more of the copper fair. I'm confident that the day started with breakfast at I Turbe, a nice hotel with a restaurant serving a great breakfast and the best coffee we can find in Patzcuaro.

Starters: fruit plate, coffee, and little powder sugar cookies in the little basket.

This refreshing start is followed by a large plate of traditional Michoacan food . . . or pancakes.

Then it's a hike to the intersection where buses to Santa Clara pass frequently. The ride up the mountain (maybe "mountain" is exaggerated, but the elevation increases significantly) passes the daily life of Patzcuaro.

A flowering vine jumps out of it's humble surroundings.

Last February's trip to Santa Clara included a breakfast with Lulu Paz and her husband, Alfredo. Alfredo operates the furniture business that makes sinks and wood pieces with beautiful copper panels. Lulu operates a traditional copper storefront with a great copper-making demonstration area (not pictured here). The shop is called Casa Felicitas at Pino Suarez #88.

Lulu and Alfredo with February's travelers.

All over the city you can hear the "ping-ping" of hammer on copper and the whoosh of a bellows fire. The travelers are sure to have a full day of decision making. I'm hoping for some copper fair photos to share at a later date.

Day 9: Bus to Patzcuaro

Wednesday, August 12: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

The travelers arrived in Patzcuaro and in the evening sent this email describing their bus trip and the subsequent trip up to Santa Clara del Cobre:

"We left SMA this morning on the 7:45 am bus and got here around 12:30 pm. We immediately left for Sta Clara where the copper fair is in full swing. Devils and dancers, Purepecha bands on stage, the square was full of folks. And there was a parade of sorts down the main drag -- a couple of toddlers in costume sitting on the hoods of cars. Yikes!

"Tonight we had a great meal at Primer Piso, sitting on the balcony overlooking the square [in Patzcuaro]." Beth

Copper judging and awards in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacan, Mexico 2008

No word on competition purchases this year. It's fun to put the photos with the winning pots that we can purchase. We try to encourage the young artists to continue their craft.

A winner in the 8-13 year-old division 2008