Inspired by the plants, flowers, animals, skies, deserts, mountains, Juana imagines the hues she wants to see, then combines ingredients, boiling and stirring, dipping skeins of yarn into cauldrons the size of small kitchen tables set atop wood fires. When squished, the bugs create a seeping red so like blood I flinched when I saw it spreading across Juana Gutierrez’s hands.Ĭochineals are an important part of Juana’s creative process, as are the burlap sacks filled with seeds, pods, fruits and plants that surround the stone metate she uses to grind the pigments for her dyes. In the courtyard where they work, aged trees shade hand-hewn chairs and tables, spools, spinning wheels and looms, the walls decorated with drying, spiny cactus lobes covered in cochineal bugs that look like puffs of white fluff. The Gutierrezes and about a half dozen other families weave as their ancestors did centuries ago, with local wool and natural dyes. They’re as varied as fingerprints, and a single piece can take eight months to finish. The Gutierrez family creates intricate, complex combinations of patterns and colors to make carpets and tapestries with a vibrancy rarely seen outside of nature. (Teotitlan del Valle is east of Oaxaca City off Highway 190 on the road to the archaeological ruins at Mitla.) The best elevate their craft to new levels, embracing the essence of Jorge Luis Borges’ description of art: “Music, states of happiness, mythology, faces belabored by time, certain twilights and certain places, try to tell us something, or have said something, we should not have missed.”Īll but one of the artists profiled here live and work south of Oaxaca City in small pueblos off the main artery Highway 175, called Ruta Mágica de las Artesanías. Even fewer visitors connect those ancient burial grounds to the artists living in Teotitlan, Xoxocotlan, Tilcajete and San Bartolo Coyotepec, who trace their language, culture, roots and inspiration to the tombs that hold the dust of their ancestors. Or just spend a little bit more somewhere with better quality that’s more reliable….Few tourists venture into the rural pueblos where the artisans live, following instead predictable roads to the pre-Columbian Zapotec “cities of death,” Monte Alban and Mitla. If your planning on getting something as a gift make sure you give yourself enough cushion, and hope you don’t run into any issues with shipping or quality. You’re definitely getting what you (at the end of the day) over pay for with this company, and Customer Service is not very effective in changing that. it is and the order is still “Processing”. I sent another mail asking for an update, and received a response stating that the order would be sent out on. It has now been another week… and the order is still “Processing”. Their response was they would put a rush on the order, and send an email once it has shipped. did it state they would not be processing ANY orders for over 2 weeks during this period. I asked where on their site, emails, ordering process, etc. I reached out to customer service and they explained the processing and shipping breakdown (which I had already expressed my understanding to), and then that it was Chinese New Year (which started on ) and they are on Holiday. As of the order was still listed as “Processing”. This was purchased on, 7-9 day processing, with 3 day shipping. They offered a discount which was fine, and I purchased a replacement. They then refused to fix the ring, stating it was now over the 1-year warranty. I sent the ring in and they replaced the missing stone (which took almost a month each time, equaling over 1/3 of the year), but then the large stone chipped. Received a ring, and in less than 1 year had multiple small stones fall out of the setting.
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