Spider Women Weavers in Teotitlan de Valle

So happy to read this beautiful story by Deborah Needleman in the NYT  T Magazine

 about Vida Nueva, the women's rug making co-operative in Teotitlan de Valle - the women of this cooperative are what I  have heard  referred to as "un muy bueno ejemplo", a good example, for other women to see.

Click here to read the whole article.

photo T Magazine

The Deep Contentment of the Artisans of Oaxaca

 There is a chance to visit with so many talented artisans in Oaxaca and this trip was no exception with highlights from potters, weavers, dyers, and tinmakers.  I have watched Mareya from the Mateo Galan family in Coyotopec do her magic with an exacto knife and a toothpaste cap for years now.  And wow is she getting good.  Her father in law can throw the big pots and she does all the decorative work. They were a little stressed this visit as Lorenzo broke two of his fingers about a month ago and has not been able to work. Yet you can see she has that calm, humble thing with deep pride in her work. I'm pretty sure no two of her pots are alike. She has a huge design repertoire.

This barefoot grandmother gets her workout carding and spinning that big basket of wool to her left everyday. She's contributing to the family rug business and has some serious muscle too.

Josefina Lopez gave the best natural dye demo I've ever been to.  Here she's showing off all the colors from red to bright orange to shades of lavender that she can coax from the cochineal dye.

Can't you just feel her contentment and happiness?

Handspinning cotton high in the hills of Oaxaca, Khadi/Oaxaca is translating Ghandian values of village life, sustainability, & handwork into a beautiful experiment making stunning artisan goods and creating livelihood for hundreds of families. This is fair trade at it's finest.  (Read more about them by clicking here)

And I finally made it out to the town of Barro Rojo, red pottery.  I always see the women from Tlapazola selling their wares at the Sunday Tlacolula market and in town too - O ye of the famed pig toothpick holders.  We always have fun chatting with these women vendors with their pretty aprons and extra long braids.So I was happy to make it out to their bucolic little puebla and visit with a local potter and her family.

It was great to see Marina Martinez demonstrating how she mixes the red and the yellow clay from her community with a little bit of sand and then she hand shaped the classic comal with a corn cob and a piece of leather.  The yellow clay they gather in a pick up truck, the red clay they walk about an hour to gather. Click here for a fun video of her working 

 Really feel extra lucky that we happened to drop in as they prepared their primitive fire, no kiln firing.  It was fun watching skilled masters, all women - sisters and aunts and nieces,  in colorful billowing skirts  building their kiln with boxsprings and shards, and pots, and dung and dried agave leaves, and the roots of carrizo, and strategically placed red hot coals and big sticks of wood.  And sorry no pictures, it's considered bad luck, might make the pots crack! 

I always feel a very peaceful feeling when I come back from villages.

How Many Rugs is too Many Rugs?

I don't have a store, and even when I did, I never had enough time to really sit down with the leisure it would take to buy the goods for retail when I'm out on a tour with a half dozen people who all want to shop.  So don't ask me how I ended up with a rainbow colored rug from Teotitlan de Valle.  Suffice it to say, I was so moved by the deep knowledge displayed in the natural dye demonstration that the mother of the family had just given us,and I loved that it was the eldest daughter, who was just getting old enough to weave, who had made the rug.  Of course I wanted a rug that showed the complete spectrum of natural dyes they were able to acheive in their home studio. In fact, had to have it. Funny how that goes.

Here's my rainbow colored rug in situ with Angelica, the daughter on the left, holding her handiwork with her mother Josefina. Typically Zapotecs pose rather stoically behind their work. They were all set to do that but I asked them to look at each other instead, which made them smile. Such a nice day and I'm so glad I have the rug to remember it all, although I have absolutely zero idea what I am going to do with it.  Currently it's a runner in the middle of my dining room table.

Natural Dyes with Pomegranates

Itty bitty baby pomegranates just at the stage where they are going from flower to fruit.  They are called granada in Spanish.  They;re not native to Mexico but you see them growing in lots of home gardens.

 

 Mostly I've seen them in Teotitlan where they use the bark to make a natural dye that produces various shades of brown. More and more, like everywhere in the world, you are seeing the resurging interest in natural dyes. Cochineal, indigo, and caracol are at the top of the pyramid historically when it comes to natural dyes in Oaxaca for their brilliant reds, pink, purples, and blues respectively but there are lots of other plants people are using

Here's a link to an en Via story about natural dyes in Teotitlan 

And here's a link to find out more about taking natural dying workshops in Oaxaca.

(And sorry for the big white arrows on the photos. These aren't videos.)