artful home decor

Bertha Martin del Campo illustrates the clash between reality and perception in this silkscreen print of two penguins on an iceberg against a sky blue background. "When the decision is to exchange wings for fins, this leads us to discover a different perception of a reality for every being. Inside all of us is a little-known story that we can only understand once we open our own consciousness." The artist signs her work "Maca."

Titled 'Percepción y realidad' in Spanish.

A myriad shades of blue conjure a cool and soothing universe in this elegant nierika, or votive beadwork painting by Kupihaute. Scorpions scuttle purposefully around the center of the composition, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artist, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "From the focal center of the nierika, the precious flower arises in spiral movement as the culminating expression of the deepest roots. The blossom is keeping in its entrails the seed that will disseminate the power of creative energy. This is symbolized by the scorpions that, in their wonderful body symmetry, show the essence of the power itself, since any imbalance in its mating dance, any missing the target, will cause its own poisoning and thus its own death. Therefore the symbol of cosmos, of order is shown in their mouths and the tails."

The intricate images are formed with tiny seed beads. Kupihuate patiently places them one at a time with a needle made of abalone shell onto a huanacaxtle wood backing. Beeswax is used instead of glue.

The process is totally spontaneous, with no previous sketch or design. It is guided by the artist's unconscious to tell the stories that remain in our collective ancestral memory. He signs his work with the symbol of a butterfly on the reverse side of the nierika.

The sea turtle is a protected species in Mexico, and volunteers care for their eggs on pristine Pacific beaches where they next. In honor of the creatures and the people who care for them, Alejandro de Esesarte creates this beautiful wall sculpture. He cuts out the steel image and hammers it into low relief. The details are meticulously painted by hand.

Because each piece is individually hand-crafted and painted, size and color could vary slightly.