Mischievous Angels and More

From the log JM kept on the Feb/March 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

February 26, 2010. No visit to San Miguel de Allende would be complete without a visit to the Artisan Market. We bought ceramics and jewelry from the Leyva family,

Adela Flores with her brightly painted suns.

and picked out a large selection of painted wood carvings (mischievous flying angels and a couple of devils) offered by a family from the state of Guerrerro.

We also visited the home of our friend Ricardo Banda, to pick out some finely-crafted tin and tile mirrors for your home and luminaries for your patio.

Ricardo keeps careful track of our order.

But, that was just the beginning! We also picked out some hand-made decorative tiles, and made a trip up the highway to the historically-important town of Delores Hidalgo, where the Mexican Independence Movement began. They were reconstructing the highway, which follows the 200-year-old route of the original independence march. It was slow going, but we made it to Delores in time to choose a good selection of hand-painted ceramic ware from the Liceagui family. We watched the Liceagui painters at work, and were astonished by their steady hands and skill.

Even our photos didn't interrupt the artist's concentration.

Upon leaving the Liceagui workshop, we had to run for several blocks to catch up with the bus leaving for San Miguel. Our frantic chase amused the amiable group of bystanders, who laughed and cheered us on. Because of the slow traffic, we finally overtook the bus--only to find that it was the wrong one! But well-wishers waived down the correct bus ahead of us and, puffing and sweating, we finally pulled ourselves aboard. There were no heart attacks.

Tlaquepaque

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

We visited Tina’s shop in Tlaquepaque, a suburb of Guadalajara, where you can find many crafts for sale. Tina and her husband operate a small workshop that produces wonderful hand-blown glassware. But Tina laments that business is slow – so slow that they had to close down the workshop and lay off workers (at least until Chiripa showed up!). It was a familiar story among the artisans that we visited.


We ordered a nice selection of glass items that will get the workshop going again, at least for a little while. The glass creations are all made from recycled glass, and they are all lead-free. They have that special hand-blown shape and feel that will add an artisan touch to your home and table.

Some of the sizes available at Chiripa. Other colors: cobalt blue, aqua, red.

We also checked in on our good friends at D’Casa Ceramics, near Tlaquepaque. This family business operates in a little workshop on a residential street, but produces beautiful, high-temperature, Talavera ceramic ware that is durable and lead-free.


The proprietor, Enrique Castro, had many years of experience as a supervising engineer with large ceramics firms before starting his own business with his wife Gloria Saucedo. He takes a lot of pride in his work, and you can trust him to provide the very highest quality product. --JM, August 17, 2009

"Rosy" is the name of this pattern. It's one of Chiripa's "Best Sellers."