colorful owl art

Brighten your office space with Fida Hussain's colourful papier mache pen holder. The Indian artisan starts by using the traditional art of papier mache to hand craft the holder before buffing and hand painting the exterior with a bright owl motif. Finally, the artisan coats the decorative box with a glossy lacquer for a protective finish.

Let Fida Hussain's colourful pen holder keep your pens in one place until you're ready to use them. The Indian artisan starts by using the traditional art of papier mache to hand craft the holder before buffing and hand painting the exterior with a bright owl motif. Finally, the artisan coats the decorative box with a glossy lacquer for a protective finish.

Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, Jesus and Roxana Hernandez of Oaxaca design and craft this intriguing owl alebrije sculpture from copal wood. "In our village, most of the men and women are wood-carvers and we specialize in Mexico's traditional alebrije sculptures. These are colorful and fanciful figures carved from natural branches that depict all kinds of...imaginary creatures," Jesus explains.

The alebrije tradition started with Mexico City papier mache artisan Pedro Linares (1906-1992). When he was 30, he fell into a coma due to serious illness. While he was unconscious, he dreamed he was caught between the land of the living and the dead; the place looked like a forest and was populated with creatures with body parts belonging to different animals. The beings repeatedly uttered the word alebrije. Upon recovering, Linares recreated these figures in bright colors using papier mache techniques and called them alebrijes. His work became famous and was one of the main influences of artisans in the state of Oaxaca who began crafting alebrijes of their own using traditional wood carving methods.

Celebrate the holiday season with this set of three ornaments depicting Guatemala's festive spirit in a cute group of owls. Designed by artisans Juan and Carolina, each ornament is hand-carved from pinewood and painted with colourful motifs classic to the region. The set also arrives in a handwoven cotton storage bag.