Tag Archives: pottery

Two BIG Oaxaca EVENTS and Special Prices for Valentine’s Day

Posted on Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | Comments Off on Two BIG Oaxaca EVENTS and Special Prices for Valentine’s Day

Love Oaxaca? Love artisan makers? Mark you calendar for this Friday and Saturday, February 14 and 15 in downtown Oaxaca, Mexico. Two big expoventas feature some of Oaxaca’s top artisans. English and Spanish spoken. Debit and credit cards accepted.

SPECIAL PRICES — TWO DAYS ONLY 10th Anniversary Celebration

Comments Off on Two BIG Oaxaca EVENTS and Special Prices for Valentine’s Day

Posted in Oaxaca Mexico art and culture

Tagged , , , , , , ,

To the Villages with Shuko–Backroads Oaxaca

Posted on Saturday, October 26, 2019 | 7 comments

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.

Shopping with Shuko, our Oaxaca backroads adventure into craft villages

She takes her time. She curates each item. She meets the makers and engages with them. She holds an article in her hands and savors its creation. She kneels down to touch a wool rug whose life is created on the loom. She traces the pattern with her fingertips, asking about ancient design origin.

The women who make clay mural
Each handmade, hand-formed, imperfect, burnished, beautiful

It is a marvel to go shopping with Shuko. She chooses carefully. Selects one or two items that are the same. She is not a volume shopper. I learn from her. Take your time. Each moment with a handmade article is a blessing for the maker and eventually, the buyer.

Shuko with cochineal dyed cotton warp and ikat wool throw/shawl
Arnulfo, Jr. finishes his first rug. So proud. Vendido. Sold!

Don’t rush. When I was in Japan, I saw that a large room with one extraordinary vase containing one exquisite flower was enough. This is antithetical to my own collecting sensibilities. It is a struggle to keep my living environment spare, and I confess I am unsuccessful. But I aspire to this — one object, beautifully crafted, as focal point.

Perfect naturally-dyed beeswax candles suspend from rebar rods
Beeswax candlemaker Viviana Alavez, Grand Master of Oaxaca folk art

Meanwhile, Shuko and I travel the villages; to San Marcos Tlapazola to visit the women makers of red clay pottery; to Mitla to see the weaver of natural dyed wool and cotton; deep into a Mitla neighborhood to visit the antique dealer whose eclectic collection tempts all; to old adobe houses of Teotitlan del Valle where humble weavers work magic.

Spaces Open: Oaxaca Discovery Tour–Textiles and Folk Art 2020

Elaborate, handmade beeswax flowers decorate church candlesticks, made here
Shuko with Viviana, a joyful moment

As always, thank you for reading and following. Can we take you on the backroads? On the Ocotlan Highway? Through the Tlacolula Valley? On a Textile Study Tour adventure?

A collection of dolls on Epifanio’s altar in Mitla
Rare, 17th century Quiatoni necklace with blown glass, coral. Anyone want it?
I’ll buy it for you. $1,200 USD includes mailing.
Shuko with Macrina and family in San Marcos
Ernestina shows us rugs she just finished weaving
Perched on a dead tree branch, Virgin of Guadalupe vintage icon

7 Comments

Posted in Oaxaca Mexico art and culture

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

One-Day Ocotlan Highway Oaxaca Folk Art Study Tour

Posted on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 | 1 comment

This one-day customized study tour takes you beyond Oaxaca City and into the villages along the highway to Ocotlan de Morelos, the home of famed Mexican painter and muralist Rodolfo Morales (1925-2001). We schedule this excursion based on your travel plans and our availability.

You can choose to visit four (4) of the following options from this menu of mixed media experiences:

  1. Black pottery making in San Bartolo Coyotepec
  2. A back-strap loom weaving workshop in Santo Tomas Jalieza
  3. A fine copal wood carver and painter (alebrijes) in San Martin Tilcajete
  4. A family of clay sculptors in San Antonino Castillo Velasco
  5. A group of embroiderers in San Antonino Castillo Velasco
  6. A visit to the Morelos murals, museum and market meander in the Ocotlan municipal center

We don’t go on Fridays, the frenzied day of the Ocotlan Market, when there is a crush of people and visitors and it’s too difficult to savor the experience.

What is included?

  • Transportation to/from Oaxaca City Historic Center
  • Lunch at a well-known restaurant or comedor
  • Translation
  • Expert explanations of art and craft
  • Curated visits to meet some of the best artisans we know
San Antonino embroidery and deshillado (pulled threads for lace)

Cost

$300 per day for one or two people. $135 per person additional.

Schedule your dates directly with Norma Schafer. You reserve for the dates you prefer. Please send us a couple of options. You are welcome to organize your own small group.  We match your travel schedule with our availability.

This is for a full day, starting at 9 a.m. when we pick you up and ending at about 6 p.m. when we return you to your Oaxaca lodging. Please provide us with hotel/lodging address and phone number.

Front door, Rodolfo Morelos home

Reservations and Cancellations

We require a non-refundable 50% deposit via an e-commerce payment service. We will send you an invoice when you tell us you are ready to register and we confirm dates. The 50% balance is due on the day of the tour in cash, either USD or MXN pesos (at the current exchange rate). When we receive funds, we will send you confirmation and details. Be sure to send us the name and address for where you are staying.

1 Comment

Posted in Oaxaca Mexico art and culture

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Announcing Mano del Sur by Shuko Clouse — Curated Goods

Posted on Sunday, October 6, 2019 | 5 comments

Shuko Clouse just opened her online shop Mano del Sur. She is a friend and I want to help give her a boost.

Shuko is from Japan. She loves Mexico and particularly Oaxaca. She combines her aesthetic for quality and simplicity with all unique, one-of-a-kind pieces she finds along the way during her travels south-of-the-border.

Beach mat textile on Mano del Sur

Shuko is dedicated to learning Spanish. She recently came to Oaxaca for a language immersion program. In her generous, kind and insightful multicultural approach, she communicates directly with artisans to identify and buy the best home goods and fashion accessories to pass along to discerning buyers via her new website.

Huipil woodblock print on Mano del Sur

Our textile study tours offer people like Shuko a guided opportunity to seek out some of the most outstanding artisans in a region. Shuko came with us to Chiapas and she is now returning for the Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour. She comes to Oaxaca city, too, where I take her to villages to meet some of the best artisans to buy their craft.

I am happy to work with Shuko, designers and retailers to introduce them to artisans. The makers appreciate being able to sell direct with no middleman and the buyers know they support artisans directly and pay a fair price for their quality workmanship.

We are filled for the Oaxaca Coast Tour, but we have space for

Contact me for more information at norma.schafer@icloud.com

Mercado brown bag on Mano del Sur

5 Comments

Posted in Oaxaca Mexico art and culture

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Feria del Barro Rojo del San Marcos Tlapazola 2018: Red Clay Pottery Fair

Posted on Friday, July 13, 2018 | 2 comments

Who wants to join me for lunch in San Marcos Tlapazola tomorrow, Saturday, July 14? I’ll be there by 11 a.m. in time to see Lila Downs, the madrina (patron) of the celebration, cut the ribbon for the official opening.

This is the third year of the festival and each year it grows bigger. In addition to selling the specialty ceramics of the village — the beautiful red clay dinnerware and accessories — you can dance, eat, take photos, drink atole and mezcal, buy aprons, and just overall enjoy the festivities.

My own Teotitlan del Valle kitchen has a shelf of red clay dinnerware made by Macrina Mateo Martinez, one of the more famous artisans.

San Marcos is located in the hills about 20 minutes above Tlacolula. You could combine this with a visit to the Sunday market, too.

I took the photos below in 2015, the year I separated from my wasband, still deciding how I would spell my new last name which is a derivative of my mother’s maiden name (in case you were wondering why the names don’t match!).

Red clay pottery, San Marcos Tlapazola, photo by Norma Schafer

Fueling the kiln at San Marcos, photo by Norma Schafer

Portrait of a potter, San Marcos Tlapazola, photo by Norma Schafer

Mujeres del Barro Rojo, San Marcos Tlapazola, photo by Norma Schafer

 

2 Comments

Posted in Folk Art, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Photography

Tagged , , , ,