Merecemos Una Cerveza

It's funny how words or phrases become triggers for a person or a group. The trigger from this last trip was Merecemos una cerveza (We deserve a beer.). That phrase has popped into conversation many times since Estela used it in February at her talavera pottery workshop called Liceagui in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico.

The whole statement was, Despues de tanto trabajo, merecemos una cerveza. (After so much hard work, we deserve a beer.) We had arrived late in the day on a Saturday. Both Estela and her husband Gerardo were at the workshop. We quickly set to work selecting already-made pieces and ordering other popular pieces to be made for us. As we set about on our quest, Estela started writing the order. She's quite fast (and accurate). But, it still took a long time to hand write the six pages of the invoice.

Estela, Gerardo and their daughter Maria

  

At one point we were looking for a large chicken planter and Estela thought she had one in the adjoining production workshop. We had never been in that building and I trouped over with her to check it out (without my camera). There we found the sought-for planter amid piles of rocks and molds and fired pottery. A small machine was in constant motion. Estela explained that the rocks (see photo below) were being agitated to create the clay that is used to form the pottery. It would take at least a couple hours to turn the rock into usable clay. We marveled at the many hours of manual and machine labor needed to produce the colorful pieces we sell at Chiripa.

The rock that gets agitated and dissolved to form the clay for the pottery.

It was evening by the time we finished our selection and Estela was totaling the pages and the final invoice. She then offered us a beverage and said, Despues de tanto trabajo, merecemos una cerveza. Who could refuse! -kl

Around Lake Patzcuaro-Santa Fe de la Laguna

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

We don't often get to the far north side of Lake Patzcuaro. But, in the small village of Santa Fe de la Laguna one can find some of the most beautiful and contemporary-looking lead-free pottery. It is the work of Nicholas Fabian and his wife Maria del Rosario. On this trip we arrived to find no one home. And then, a Chiripa (happy accident): Maria came walking down the street and welcomed us into their home. 

 Maria wearing a traditional Purépecha rebozo 

in front of a wall of newly made pottery.

After we had selected the new product for Chiripa I asked Maria to step into their courtyard for another photo. To me, she projects pride and honor. She and Nicolas were part of the first group of potters in that area that recognized the need to switch to lead-free production techniques. She is a proud of their indigenous heritage and confident in their art. She is the one that makes the forms and Nicholas is the one who etches the designs. They are a partnership and both names are etched on the bottom of all pieces.

We were sad to miss Nicolas on this trip, but we learned that he now has access to email when he goes into town. Next time, we'll plan ahead.

A true team: Maria del Rosario and Nicholas Fabian photographed in 2008.

-kl

Around Lake Patzcuaro-Manuel Morales

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

Some of our most amazing and memorable experiences traveling in Mexico come from visiting workshops in small villages. The artists are in their natural element.

Master potter Manuel Morales lives and works in Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan, Mexico. Using pre-columbian themes and geometrical designs, he has managed to combine images from his indigenous Purepecha heritage and influences from the greater world of art history. His workshop is the building that was the first hospital in that area. Manuel's work has won numerous national prizes and is coveted in the U.S. and Europe. Chiripa feels fortunate to have several new pieces on the way.

Our current (4/12) remaining piece can be found on the Chiripa website.

We first met Manuel when visiting his mother, also a potter. Ofelia Gamez died about a year ago; a great loss to the community and Chiripa.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new shipment from Mexico. Sign up for the Chiripa mailing list (lower right corner of homepage) if you would like email notifications. -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

Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato

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

From the city of Guanajuato, we bussed to Dolores Hidalgo, another city in the state of Guanajuato and home to fabulous ice cream sold on the central plaza. We arrived late, had dinner and I was too full to enjoy an ice cream. Tomorrow. . . But, tomorrow was Sunday and our morning walk told us that ice cream would be a later delicacy. Darn.

No one is shy about color in Mexico. I love it.

It was a calm Sunday morning; no flags unfurling in front of Father Hidalgo's historic church. I'm not your Mexican history maven, but, this is one of the most significant locations for the Mexican revolution. Look it up!

Our morning restaurant was still decorated in Valentines Day papel picado. 

Dolores Hidalgo is home to much talavera pottery and hand painted tiles. I love how the bandstand tiles were repaired on the side of the steps. 

 

Our prior trips to DH were quick stops at our favorite shop Liceagui. (I'll post more about them when the shipment arrives.) We were in need of a hotel and Estela recommended Hotel Hidalgo just off the main plaza. Now we can recommend it, too. Clean, convenient and very affordable: all Chiripa requirements.