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.

Day 11: The Lake Patzcuaro Loop

Friday, August 14: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

Friday starts with a trip to the local market Patzcuaro. We find fun magnets here, but pass on the piles of pottery because we can't verify that it is Lead-Free. It's a very local market with things you'll find in typical Mexican homes.

A report on the day's activities included a tour guided by Dirceau and Beto of Echery Pottery. Places and people on the list:

The Juan Rosas Family in Capula

The Fernando Arroyo Family in Capula

The Nicolas Fabian Family in Santa Fe de la Laguna

A new potter [I wonder what he or she makes]

Isidro Lopez Saldivar, the stone carver in Tzintzuntzan [and I'm sure they didn't drive through this city without stopping for the cornhusk flowers that are a staple of the shop.]

And I wonder if they stopped at El Tirgre for lunch.

And then when back in Patzcuaro a trip to Once (11) Patios to look for delicately painted jewelry and barrettes. A very full day.

No time for photos on this post. You can search by any of the names above and see previous posts about the families and the art they produce. You can also search on our website for products we sell by these artisans.

Tzintzuntzan

No, we're not in China. Tzintzuntzan (seen-soon-sahn) is my favorite sounding town name in Mexico. It means place of the butterfly in Purepecha (poo-RAY-pecha), the language of the indiginous people who live in this area of Michoacan.

Dirceau (our guide from Barro Sin Plomo/Echery Pottery) introduced us to Ophelia Gamez on our last trip. The two are great friends.

We found Ophelia working in her studio and as I photographed, Dirceau talked with her about her work and family life. She never put down the brush until we were ready to check out what was for sale in the showroom.

In this next photo, Ophelia works on the decorative edge of a bowl. You can see (and buy) a similar bowl on our website.

Tzintzuntzan is an artisan center and has a lively market with baskets, cornhusk flowers, embroidery, pottery, and wood carvings. You'll also find ancient ruins right along the highway. As we head out of town we stop close to the ruins to visit a display of carved volcanic rock.

Isidoro Lopez Saldivar and his family line both sides of the highway with an amazing array of figures and architectural detail. Although power tools are used for much of the carving, the fine details still require work by hand. Here Isidoro puts the finishing touches on a figure.

On our last trip I was able to capture his family on film. It also gives you a sense of the scope of the business.

This is definitely worth a stop on your trip. We've been know to carry back a fish or two. But, the piece we show on our website came by truck. It no longer graces the front of the shop, but you'll find other pieces for sale inside.