mothers rings

She is elegant with a halo of stars and ornate repoussé motifs. Her eyes are golden, her lips red. Godfred France creates this beautiful African mask in an original design he names Inbuku, "Caring" in the Hausa language. "I came up with this mask based on the love I have for my mother. She has been very supportive and caring," he says. "Mothers all over the world, you are wonderful and I appreciate you!"

Evelyn Kafui Ahianyo designs a beautiful sculpture filled with traditional meaning. Finely carved from sese wood, the graceful image depicts a mother and child. The woman wears a skirt with the textures of embossed aluminum. "It is believed that these dolls inspire hope in the beauty and good health of both mother and baby," the Ghanaian designer explains. "Such images are given to pregnant women of the Anlo people by a tribal midwife. She names the sculpture Evidada, which means "joy of motherhood" in the Anlo-Ewe language.

"I call this design Tempoka, the Mossi term for mother earth in reference to the natural materials I used for this necklace, and also to emphasize the importance of using recycled materials to help save Mother Earth," confides Ila Suleyman as he crafts the necklace by hand with ornate terracotta and sese wood beads. He completes his design with colourful recycled plastic beads and a brass clasp.

Cradled in his mother's arms, the infant Jesus reaches a chubby hand to caress her face. The Virgin gazes lovingly at her son with a look of infinite tenderness. Golden haloes surround them in this relief carving by the Ramírez Montalvo Family. They select fragrant cedar wood, applying delicate color with oil paints and finishing the sculpture with bronze leaf.

Titled "Virgen de Caricias" in Spanish, the work has a metal hook at the back to facilitate hanging.

This adorable key fob is hand crafted by Claudio Ojeda in Mexico. The panda alebrije is carved from copal wood and painted in black and white and myriad patterns and shapes in pink and purple. The wood figurine adorns a stainless steel key ring. The artisan signs his pieces with the initials "T.C.", which represent his initial "C" preceded by his mother Teresita's initial "T". Claudio learned the art of crafting alebrijes from his mother.

The folk art tradition of alebrijes dates back to the 1930's in Mexico City. A man named Pedro Linares was taken ill, and in his fevered dreams he saw a strange land populated with curious creatures--a donkey with wings, a rooster with bull's horns, and a lion with the head of a dog. The beasts all shouted "alebrije! alebrije!". Upon his recovery, Linares began recreating the fantastical creatures he had seen in his dream. The art form gained popularity, and alebrijes are now made of wood as well as papier mache.

A charming couple lovingly embraces their newborn child in this heart-felt sculpture. The couple's arms cradle the infant in such a way that they suggest wedding rings. By Indonesia's Eka, this sculpture is hand-carved from suar wood with a natural finish. These three are a perfect reminder of family love.