Glass in Tlaquepaque

Musings from the Feb 2011 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

In Tlaquepaque, a suburb of Guadalajara that is famous for its artisan crafts, we also stop to visit our friend Tina Ruiz. Tina’s husband of many years died last year (see this post), leaving her to run the family’s hand-blown glass business. It has been a hard year, and Tina has had to contract for production help. But she still sells hand-blown glass produced according to her family designs. She continues to nurture the avocado trees that she and her husband planted just before he died, and hopes to sell avocados in a couple of years. She was delighted to receive a Chiripa cap to protect her from the sun! 

Chiripa carries a fine selection of beautiful hand-blown glassware, selected from Tina’s shop. Chiripa currently has several color options for the glass mask luminaries behind Tina in this photo. You can also find select pieces on the Chiripa website.

The Next Generation

Musings from the Feb 2011 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

After breakfast, we visit our friends at D’Casa Ceramics. In their home workshop, the Castro family makes the fine, stoneware that you can find at Chiripa. Enrique, the veteran proprietor, worries about the general state of affairs in Mexico and the world, but is very happy that his son (also named Enrique) is now helping to run the business.  

Enrique, Sr., takes pleasure in showing us the craft that he has learned over many years, and discloses to us his secret glaze formula (no lead) which he has hand-written in pencil. 

 Enrique explains that he personally perfected his unique designs and techniques based on years of experience, including many experiments and “fracasos” (failures). There are no “fracasos” now, and the Enrique’s work shows a master’s dedication to beauty, quality and durability.

This year we found the painter working on our "house" pattern: Rosy. 

You can see the finished product on our website. Click on the image below.

All Good

Musings from the Feb 2011 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

In Guadalajara, we often stay at the old Hotel San Francisco de la Plaza. It is centrally located (though not in the very best neighborhood), and reasonably priced. An ornate chandelier (impossible to dust, and therefore undusted for 50 years or so) hangs high over the colonial-style interior courtyard. 

There is an excellent breakfast buffet, including delicious fresh papayas and plenty of coffee, which keeps us nourished for the rest of the day. The weather is clear and beautiful, but people eating breakfast wear jackets against the morning chill. 

We enjoy seeing the same dining room staff each year, including a courtly man in sport coat and tie, and a special waitress who lights up the breakfast room with good cheer. “Todo bien?” (everything fine?) she chirps, merrily.  When we say “sí, gracias,” she laughs and says “Hokay!”  (her voice fills the room). When we ask how she is doing today, the answer is always the same: “Bien, bien, bien!” Behind the counter, as she refills the coffee and tortillas, she breaks out into a spontaneous whistle as if she really, really loves her work. Imagine it! -JKM

A Taste of Mexico

Chiripa is back from another successful buying trip to Mexico. In the past we've chronicled our journeys with a sequential log. For a change of pace the posts from this trip will be random features of some special moments and memories.

We begin with the final day in Oaxaca (February 22) and a final dash through the central market just south of the Zocalo in search of molinillos (the carved wooden whisks used to froth hot chocolate). We find them in abundance.

From the market we head a couple blocks east for a last stop at Mayordomo for some take-home chocolate. The chocolate making is over for the day, but the aroma still overwhelms. 

Of course we take the time to sample a bowl of caliente (hot) chocolate and photograph the young woman preparing our drinks.

Hot chocolate on a hot day in Oaxaca . . . it works. But it will taste even better in the blustery winter weather waiting for us in Wisconsin. We'll sip with memories of the perfectly wonderful time we had in Mexico, February 2011.

August 2010

The last entry from the log kept by JM on the August 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

 

Street vendors and Mexican citizens are gearing up for their country’s bicentennial celebration.  Vendors are on street corners, well stocked with flags, noise makers, and even clownish wigs in red, green and white.  Neighborhood residents are stringing papel picado banners across their streets, from one building to another.

Mexico always bustles and there always seems to be a reason for a parade or fireworks at dawn.  Imagine the decibel level on September 16, 2010, when the entire country will have a reason to party! 

Amidst all of Mexico’s problems, we never fail to find a taxi driver, artisan, restaurant worker, or other citizen who is proud of his or her country and heritage.  On this trip, a chatty cabbie spoke fondly of everything from world-class mariachis to the clear, fresh air in Michoacan, and pretty little San Miguel de Allende.  Viva Mexico!

And now we begin to plan the next adventure to Mexico in February of 2011. . . stay tuned.

A Small Gamble Pays Off

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

August 26. Late afternoon found us in the dusty little bus depot in the town of Dolores Hidalgo, the cradle of the Mexican Independence movement. We had walked the town hunting for Talavera-style ceramics, for which Dolores is famous. We ended up at the bus depot after a short respite on the zocalo, where we watched the people and sampled the ice cream.

We always use public transportation (buses and taxis) to get around Mexico. We are big fans of the Mexican bus system, from which the U.S. could learn much. The bus system is cheap, safe and efficient, and serves a huge number of people of all income classes. We go to the bus depot without reservations and, within minutes, we are on a bus traveling to our chosen destination – near or far. The long distance buses are roomy and comfortable. The only negative is the bad U.S. movies played en route.

An hour later, the bus from Dolores dropped us at the depot in San Miguel de Allende. We asked a taxi driver to take us out into the countryside, to Rancho Cienguieta, where our friend Felix lives and operates a tin workshop with his extended family. We hadn’t been able to contact Felix by phone, so we took a chance on a taxi.

Happily, the gamble paid off. The taxi driver, somewhat bewildered, dropped us on the rural back road near Felix’s home. We walked down the lane, and were happy to catch Felix at home (he was just getting ready to leave). He was equally happy to see us. With the family looking on, we ordered some of Felix’s ever-popular star luminaries, then caught a ride with the family back to town. 

They dropped us at the market, where they were shopping for the week’s supplies, and we strolled the steep cobbled streets back to the hotel. 

Hunting for Papel Machado

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

AUGUST 25.  From Patzcuaro, we took the long bus ride to San Miguel de Allende, via Morelia and Celaya. The on-board U.S. movies were loud and bad, as is customary. They always help to make the trip seem much longer.

This afternoon, in San Miguel de Allende, we visited the workshop of our good friend Ricardo, who makes fine tin and ceramic mirrors for Chiripa. We asked about other crafts in San Miguel, and Ricardo offered to take us to a workshop that makes papel machado (paper mache). You probably made paper mache figures in elementary school, but in Mexico this humble craft has been raised to a community art form. In Mexican parades, you will often see huge papel machado puppets that dance ahead of the marching band. They have a blank, weird look, but somehow seem to be running the show....

Ricardo picked us up at 8 PM, as planned. Minutes later, we picked up his older brother Rosalío, who operates a fine artisan craft store in San Miguel (Casa Artesanal San Migueliense). When he was still a boy, Ricardo followed Rosalío to San Miguel after their father died. Ricardo credits Rosalío with teaching him the tinmaker’s craft, but adds (smiling): “Now I am better than he is.”

Darkness fell as we bumped our way through a maze of cobbled streets at the far end of town. We stopped in front of a closed doorway that did not look promising. But moments later we were inside, confronted by a wild assortment of paper maché figures, including giant clowns, oversized chickens, masks, skeletons on sticks, and a colorful assortment of peppers, fruits and vegetables. 

We enjoyed our visit with workshop owners Juan José and María Eugenia, who showed us the techniques they use. In short order, we had purchased a big boxload of their creations for Chiripa.

The next day, we took a long hike to another part of town in search of a second papel machado workshop, called Papel Maché Originales. After a fair number of wrong turns, we finally found the workshop on a dusty side-street. A handful of workers were busy forming, drying and painting a mad variety of papel machado figures.  

When we rummaged through the inventory, looking for good pieces to buy, we were startled to find Bucky Badger stools and paper mache badgers that looked like Bucky’s cousins. The shop owner told us that he once had an order from some “personas de queso” (cheese people) in Wisconsin, but then he never heard from them again....
It was hot on our way back, so we stopped at a little corner store and bought a frozen, chocolate-covered banana to share. It was cold and delicious....