New Artist: Gregorio Juarez Sanchez

Thoughts and photos from the February 2012 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

Chiripa: a happy accident. We often say that that is how we meet our artists. This time, it was a little more complex, but, also a CHIRIPA. I asked folks in our monthly newsletter for ideas for our upcoming buying trip to Mexico. Someone posted the message on a San Miguel de Allende message board and I got an email from an expat living in San Miguel who is neighbors with Gregorio Juarez Sanchez. She sent enough information and a photo to make me want to track down Gregorio.

We wandered around some neighborhoods until we found his address, and Chiripa! he was at home!

Gregorio began his career as a craftsman at the age of fourteen, working as an apprentice to Juan Bautista until his mentor's death. Gregorio's work is finely crafted and painted metal sculptures of animals and bugs and birds. He is a gracious man who was proud of his work, but, also proud of his other profession as a waiter. He showed us photos and autographs from famous people he's served.

We especially like the whimsical nature of the creatures and the attention to detail. We have Gregorio's work on display at Chiripa now. Stop in to see it.  -kl

Artists in the Mercado

Photos and thoughts from the February 2012 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

We never miss tromping through the Artisan Market in San Miguel de Allende. We have vendors there who we've worked with for years and we discover new ones every year. What I realized this year was that many are women. The shops open in the late morning and close around 5. Often children play while their parent(s) works. Sometimes young people practice their English on the tourists. Often the shop keeper is also the artist. Other times the workshop is off-site and the market booth is the retail outlet.

These four women were part of the Mercado experience on this trip.

We met Adela Flores on our very first buying trip to San Miguel de Allende six years ago. Her family makes the colorful painted blue clay figures, frames and boxes that brighten our walls. They also sell other items from their home state of Guerrero like coconut masks and silver jewelry. This year Adela greeted us again. We learned that she now has 3 children! "That's enough!" she volunteered.

We found Julieta Perez hammering milagros onto wooden hearts and crosses. Her work was very finely detailed and she greeted us warmly. I put together an order sitting on the tiny stool she uses as her workshop. Her fingers are stained from the finish on the wood. I marveled at the crude workspace virtually in a tunnel. No wonder the merchants are reluctant to arrive before noon.

Leonor is my new source for plain tin nichos; those tin boxes with glass doors that you can decorate with your own pictures, beads, and trinkets. Her shop has lots of tin things. I was admiring the variety and inquiring about quantities when she told me she could bring pictures and then make anything I wanted. I came back the next day, sat on yet another baby stool and worked on an order. The reason I had to sit for all this negotiating is that I'm quite sick with a cold at this point. The photo includes her son who is learning English.

The son on the right in this photo was also doing some translating for his very proud mother, but in this case he was translating from the native Huichol language to Spanish. This family was originally from Nyarit on the west coast of Mexico. They create the amazing beaded figures and yarn art that is embedded in beeswax. We will have a few new pieces of yarn art and beaded earrings to share when the shipment arrives. -kl

Signed by Josephina, Too!

Musings from the February 2011 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

Lizards have become a symbol of Chiripa. The colorful carved creatures have brightened our walls since we opened in 2006 and we have often used them in advertising to help identify the business. They are a popular item at Chiripa and now climb the walls of dozens of homes in Madison and beyond. 

Oscar prepares our selection for shipping.
 

Most of our lizards have had the artist's signature: Oscar Carillo, Arrazola, Oaxaca, Mexico. But Oscar is just half of the story. Oscar carves the playful creatures from copal, a soft wood abundant in that area. His wife, Josephina Morales adds the colorful painted designs. It is often the bright colors and exact details that draw a person to one lizard over another.

Josephina poses with a favorite.

A while ago a customer commented on the signature and asked if perhaps we couldn't encourage the family business to add Josephina's name to the art. I did just that in February when we visited Oscar and Josephina's workshop.

I wish I had had my camera out to capture the big grin on Josephina's face. She quickly picked up a fine pen and added her name to the pieces we selected. 

I hope that she continues to take credit for the fine work that she does. -kl

The doorway to the gallery and workshop in Arrazola.
 

From the streets of Arrazola one can see the ruins of Monte Alban in the distance.

I was taken by the colorful chickens this year. Stop in to see them!

Huichol Blunder

Musings from the Feb 2011 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

We like to stop at the downtown street market when in Tlaquepaque (Jalisco, Mexico). The Huichol people (from the state of Nyarit) set up tables to sell their intricate bead work and continue beading while tolerating the casual shoppers.

I was particularly drawn to a young woman rapidly creating the subtly shaded peyote flowers of a bracelet. She continued working while I selected a collection of earrings, bracelets, barrettes and beaded ornaments (that I'll save for holiday shoppers). When I was finished I asked her if I could take her picture. She agreed and her young son eagerly joined for this photo.

I thanked her and was about to leave when she asked for money. I was surprised, but opened my coin purse to give her a token amount for allowing me to photograph her. But, no, she didn't want money for the photo, she wanted money for the goods I thought I had purchased. Oops! I was so intrigued with capturing the beading process that I forgot to pay for the jewelry and ornaments. We all had a good laugh and I went on my way just a little embarrassed! -KL

Tzintzuntzan and Back

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

February 22, 2010

We traveled to the lakeside village of Tzintzuntzan, which in past centuries was the capital of the powerful Tarascan empire. There we shopped for cantera stone carving.

An array of carved volcanic rock.

Carver Diego Lopez Zaldivar with his family

A veiw of the ancient ruins from Diego's window.

And we visited the overflowing artisan market. We bought armloads of things, including dozens of tall cornhusk gladiolas on bamboo sticks.

We stuffed everything into a small taxi, and then tried to stuff ourselves into the same tiny space. It was a struggle, but nothing like that which ensued when we tried to get out again at our destination. The taxi driver smiled in amusement as we thrashed around in a hopeless tangle of seat belts, bags, flowers and sticks. He kept his good humor, even when a rogue stick nearly cost him an eye. But at last we broke free, and no one was hurt. All part of the Chiripa business model!

A staple at Chiripa is the cornhusk flowers that we can only find in the Tzintzuntzan market.

These colorful additions to our shop inspire people to say: "Chiripa makes me happy!"

This photo is the family who's stall at the market sells the many flowers we purchase

(daisies, callas, tulips, and the gladiolas mentioned in the copy above).

Left to right: Angelica Morales, her husband Juan Alberto Aparicio, and their daughter Jessica Morales.

We were happy to find all of them at the shop on this trip.

Paula Guzman Perez makes these delightful skeletons.

Her display was set up outside the local cemetery that is famous for it's Day of the Dead observance.

It was just a Chiripa that she was on the path that I walked on my way to buy stone carvings.