Textile ExpoVenta in Albuquerque, NM: April 3-5, 2025
SPECIAL EVENT! EXPO-VENTA SALE!April 3-5, 2025 — Albuquerque, New Mexico Oaxaca Cultural Navigator Textiles-Folk Art-Jewelry AND Hoon Arts Uzbek Silk Ikat + Baskets of Africa Norma is Participating One Day ONLY — Thursday, April 3, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. @ Fiber Arts on 4thhttps://FiberArtsOn4th.com 6463 4th Street, Los Ranchos, New MexicoOpen to Public — Thursday, 10am […]
Chiapas Textile Study Tour 2026: Deep Into Textiles
Dates are set and registration is now open — March 3-11, 2026 At Oaxaca Cultural Navigator, we aim to give you an unparalleled and in-depth travel experience to participate and delve deeply into indigenous culture, folk art, and celebrations. The Maya World of Chiapas, Mexico, spans centuries and borders. Maya people weave their complex universe […]
Oaxaca + Comings and Goings
Summer is winding down. It will be Labor Day weekend in ten days. I’m recovering well from spinal fusion surgery, though I’m far from perfect, and need to walk with two REI hiking poles to keep my balance, but I’m managing between 5,000 and 7,000 steps at least four times a week. Yesterday, I almost […]
Oaxaca Deep Dive: Cooking, Culture + Craft Tour
Jump into the magic of Oaxaca, Mexico, from January 11 to 17, 2025. During this six-night, seven-day immersion tour you will discover (almost) everything this UNESCO World Heritage city has to offer. You will take a hands-on cooking class from a traditional chef who uses an outdoor wood-fired kitchen to prepare acclaimed pre-Hispanic dishes, visit […]
Deep Into the Mixteca Alta: Oaxaca Textile + Folk Art Study Tour 2025
5 nights, 6 days, March 12-17, 2025 — Starting and ending in Oaxaca City We go deep into the Mixteca Alta, a mountainous region of the Sierra Madre del Sur in the north of Oaxaca state that is situated between the capital city and the Oaxaca coast. This area is home to Mixtec-speaking and Triqui […]
Textiles, Pottery, Paper, Masks and More on Lake Pátzcuaro, Michoacan
In addition to the monarch butterflies, what draws us to Michoacan is its extraordinary artisan traditions. Rich in cultural diversity, the Purepecha villages cling to their language and pre-Hispanic customs. Many of the craft and artisan wares were developed and promoted by Bishop Vasco de Quiroga who introduced traditional artisanry, many based on Spanish prototypes, […]
Deep Into the Mixteca Alta: Oaxaca Textile + Folk Art Study Tour
5 nights, 6 days, March 7-12, 2024 We go deep into the Mixteca Alta, a mountainous region of the Sierra Madre del Sur in the north of Oaxaca state that is situated between the capital city and the Oaxaca coast. Home to Mixtec-speaking people and other language groups (among them Chatino, Zapotec, Triqui). This tour […]
Mexico Folk Art Whimsies Sale
I might be able to get these to you by Christmas if you order by tomorrow—though no guarantees! Depending on the USPS. This a mix of pottery, alebrijes, exvotos, holiday attire, and more — most never before offered. How to Buy: Send an email to norma.schafer@icloud.comand tell me the item(s) you want to purchase by number, […]
Sunday Specials: Take 20% Off Mexican Textiles+Folk Art
It’s Post-Black Friday and I continue to review my collection and offer some of these treasures to you. Most of these pieces are new, purchased from the makers when I visited their villages. My tendency is to buy to support the makers. TAKE 20% OFF ALL LISTED PRICES BELOW. See post from November 27 for […]
Mexico Home Decor Collectibles Sale
Today, we are featuring three Ex-Votos, whimsical folk art paintings on metal. The vintage ones were painted on tin or whatever found materials the naive, untrained artist could find. They were offered at shrines and spiritual places for life-saving thanksgiving. I have one vintage piece for sale below. The other two are reproductions painted by […]
Mexico Art Show Brings Oaxaca Artisans to Lake Chapala, Jalisco–Party Time
The 18th annual Feria Maestros del Arte happened last weekend at Lake Chapala, Jalisco, about 40-minutes from Guadalajara. I had never been before and I decided it was time! Plus, it gave me a chance to spend some time with friends Chris and Ben, who moved to Ajijic from North Carolina last year. I knew […]
To the Villages with Shuko–Backroads Oaxaca
Shuko Clouse is here. She opened Mano del Sur recently, a beautiful online shop that combines her Japanese aesthetic — simplicity and quality — with Mexican handcraft excellence. Shuko came to Oaxaca to restock the shop. She takes her time. She curates each item. She meets the makers and engages with them. She holds an […]
Tribal Art and Georgia O’Keeffe: New Mexico Study Tour
Tuesday, September 1 – Wednesday, September 9, 2020 – 8 nights, 9 days New Mexico was originally part of the Spanish land grant known as New Spain. It calls to me in a way that reminds me of Oaxaca: Vast vistas of mountains and desert punctuated by red and purple skies, stately organ-pipe cactus and […]
Native American Jewelry Making — Ancient Art of Identity
The tombs of Monte Alban, the ancient Zapotec civilization perched atop a mountain in Oaxaca, Mexico, revealed, when excavated, unparalleled Mesoamerican gold metal smithing, stone and beadwork. For many of us who live in Oaxaca or visit there, we become attached to filigree work in traditional designs brought to Mexico via the Moors who taught […]
Mexico in Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico—International Folk Art Market
Tonight the famed Santa Fe International Folk Art Market opens on Museum Hill to the thrill of all of us who embrace the work created by indigenous people as an expression of self, culture and community. It will continue through the weekend. On Thursday afternoon, skirting a dramatic downpour of rain, the IFAM officially began […]
Oaxaca Discovery Study Tour: Textiles and Folk Art
January 31 to February 7, 2020, 8 days and 7 nights. Come with us to explore the Oaxaca we know and love by going deep and personal. We offer you an unparalleled and eclectic cultural immersion travel experience by introducing you to the artisans we believe offer some of the finest examples of folk art and […]
Whimsical and Vintage Mexico Exvotos Folk Art for Sale
In 10 days I’ll be returning to Oaxaca from North Carolina. In the meantime, I’m going through my collection and will offer pieces to you for sale for the next few days. Please make your purchase before May 7. I will mail before May 10, 2019. Thank you. How to Buy: Send me an email. […]
Exvotos Mexican Folk Art, Vintage + Silver Jewelry, Pillow Covers Sale
Mexico’s Ex-Votos are collectible naive folk art that tell a story of thanksgiving for being saved from near-death or disaster. Yes, it was a miracle to survive. Usually, the person who escaped tragedy would hire a local artist to paint a tin square depicting the scene. The message of thanks may have included many misspellings, as the […]
The Virgin of Guadalupe Photo Essay: From Primitive to Painterly
The Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City is featuring a special exhibition about the Virgin of Guadalupe. The images include primitive figures in carved wood, elaborate paintings and wood carvings from church altars, woven and embroidered textiles, and contemporary 2016 photographs by Federico Gama taken at the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City. Why am […]
Folk Art Makers in Oaxaca Artisan Villages: Kinship, Work and Compensation
I subscribe to a website named academia.edu that recently published a paper by Alanna Cant, an academic from Kent University, United Kingdom. Dr. Cant spent almost a decade studying and writing about the relationship between the owners of a large, successful wood carving and painting workshop in San Martin Tilcajete and the people who are employed […]
Michoacan Folk Art + Textile Study Tour with Butterflies
Arrive Thursday, January 31 and depart Monday, February 11, 2019. Eleven nights and twelve days in the heart of one of Mexico’s greatest folk art centers. Sold Out. Taking a waiting list. ITINERARY Th-1/31, Day 1 Arrive Morelia, overnight in Morelia F-2/1, Day 2 Visit Casa de Artesania in morning. Depart for Patzcuaro at 2 […]
Say Your Prayers. Mexico’s Retablos – Ex-Votos Folk Art For Sale
Mexico’s Ex-Votos are naive folk art that tell a story of thanksgiving for being saved from near-death or disaster. Yes, it was a miracle to survive. Usually, the person who escaped tragedy would hire a local artist to paint a tin square depicting the scene. The message of thanks may have included many misspellings, as […]
Mexican Folk Art for Sale: Vintage and Reproduction Ex-Votos
Ex-votos came to Mexico from Spain with the 1521 conquest. They are devotional prayer plaques applied to shrines in thanksgiving for a miracle received from a particular saint. These small votive offerings are hand-painted on tin and naive folk art. Usually the supplicant, the person giving thanks for the miracle, hired a local untrained artist […]
Exvotos: Mexico’s Naive Folk Art Painting of Thanksgiving
In the third room of Casa Azul you will see a small sampling of a vast collection of exvotos amassed by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. It is said they had one of the largest collections of these small tributes of thanks to a saint for a miracle, for saving a life, a favor received. […]
2017 Feria del Carrizo: Oaxaca’s Handwoven River Reed Basket Fair
It’s that time of year again, the end of January and early February, when the river reed weavers of San Juan Guelavia hold their annual fair. The event, now in its sixth year, is more than a show and sale of great baskets. January 29-February 5, 2017 It’s a food fest beyond imagination! You’ll find […]
India Journal: New Delhi Textile Shopping Guide
New Delhi is a whirlwind city filled with honking cars, traffic congestion, auto rickshaws that zoom in and out inches from the next vehicle and an efficient, safe metro system. I never saw an accident but thought we would surely collide on multiple occasions. Traffic lanes do not exist although the roads are marked. On a […]
India Journal: Textiles and My Family in Delhi
This is a tribute to family, dispersal and reconnection. It was a remarkable afternoon at my cousin Sharon Lowen‘s apartment in New Delhi, India. The city has been her home for the last 43 years. My 99-1/2 year-old Aunt Ethel lives with her youngest daughter Sharon who is her primary caregiver. It was a remarkable […]
India Journal: Wazir Museum Quality Vintage Textiles
This is my last day in Bhuj, Gujarat, India. Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 13, I begin the journey back to America. It is morning here. I awake to the sound of Bollywood-style raucous music, loud, cymbals clanging, trumpets tooting, and look out the window. There is a parade with floats on the street beneath my hotel […]
A Day in Xochistlan de Vicente Suarez, Puebla with Merry Foss and Friends
Xochitl is the Nahuatl word for flower and Tlan de Totonaco is the literal meaning for beautiful place. Xochistlan is the beautiful place between the flowers. (You can tell if a word has a Nahuatl origin if it ends in tl.) Here in the Sierra Norte of Puebla state, a lush landscape of rugged mountains, […]
Que Supresa! Oaxaca in San Diego, California
As I drive south from my son’s home in Huntington Beach, California, on my way to visit Barbara and David, and dear friend Merry Foss in San Diego, I marvel at how the landscape looks like Mexico, how the climate feels like Mexico. Except there is development everywhere, new houses, shopping centers, freeway congestion. Infrastructure. […]