La Cruz - Colourful artistry

We made reference earlier to the colourful art work we've seen in San Blas, La Cruz and Bucerias, including the work of various Huichol artists.  In San Blas, where stalls wereset up in the town plaza, we enjoyed speaking with the women who were selling their beaded bracelets, earrings and other jewellery.  During the feast day festivities, a man arrived selling the beaded carvings he had made and they all spoke of the hours and days it takes to either create the jewellery or affix the small seed beads onto the wood carvings.  We were very impressed and admired the intricate work.

Reference material advises that:  the Huichol have a long history of beading, making the beads from clay, shells, corals, seeds and more and using them to make jewelry and to decorate bowls and other items. The “modern” beadwork usually consists of masks and wood sculptures covered in small, brightly colored commercial beads fastened with wax and resin.

In La Cruz there is a gallery located in the Abalon restaurant displaying a large variety of Huichol work.  We admired brightly coloured yarn 'paintings' created by pressing yarn into a beeswax-resin mixture and resulting in imaginative displays of art.  Some reflect mythology, some an aspect of the artists' world view. There are displays of jewellery similar to what we saw in San Blas and the detailed beaded sculptures of birds, animals and other shapes. The base is carved wood or a lighter weight mold.  The Hikuri silk screening shop provides very high quality tee-shirts, gift cards and other items based on the Huichol designs.

Today at the Sunday Market in the town plaza, we were able to view the art work on display with the benefit of more information and having seen a variety of pieces in several locations.  It was a difficult choice, but we decided INTREPID II deserved a local piece of art to enhance our cozy cabin.  We purchased an appealing crescent moon from artist Alvaro Ortiz Lopez and are now contemplating the best place to display La Luna or "Metsa" in the Huichol language.

Huichol art - beaded moon

Artist Alvaro Ortiz Lopez at work

The artist advised us he had participated in a recent artistic endeavour in which several Huichol artists painstakingly decorated a Volkswagen Beetle with an incredible amount of beads. The end result was to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, with funds received to be used to support  the Huichol community.

Hand woven and perfect for the boat

Leaving the market, we were offered a better price (half!) on a small woven basket we had admired and now have a new 'bread basket'.   A good day, having sampled fresh baked scones, various salsas, and gourmet tamales...all excellent.