artful home decor

Artist R. Fabricio portrays Mexico's vibrant spirit through a proud rooster. This delightful original woodcut block print combines intense colors on a black base hue, evoking the region's festive aura but also its people's intrepid hearts.

The piece, titled A guevo in Spanish, arrives stretched.

What could possibly be more Peruvian than a llama wearing a chullo hat? Artisan Elva Florez molds the delightful figurine from clay, firing it in a kiln before carefully painting it by hand.

Designed and crafted by Peruvian artisan Elva Florez, this delightful llama statuette makes a charming addition to home decor. The figurine is molded from clay before being fired in a kiln and carefully painted by hand.

Working with the ancient woodcut printing technique, dating back to the 7th century in China, Guatemala's Spencer Samayoa honors the divine nature of the jaguar, a symbol of Central America. "This image represents the great power that the jaguar has in the Mayan worldview, and the wings represent freedom," explains the artist while bringing the artwork to life by hand.

This gorgeous piece comes stretched.

"I wanted to represent my unique vision of death, to take away the sad part and put a bit of humor and extravagance," says Guatemalan artist Spencer Samayoa while bringing to life an expressionist woodcut print in black and white. As a talented artisan, Spencer creates this diptych on coated paper, depicting the reaper carrying a stereo and also wearing a captivating dress.

The pieces are stretched.

The power of nature embraces a wild boar in this expressionist composition from Thailand. Surangrat honors the Year of the Pig with this acrylic composition, whose captivating hues and intricate details represent Mother Nature's free spirit, moving courageously around the image of a magnificent creature.

The artwork arrives signed and unstretched.

Working with oil paints, Hugo Pichiya brings San Jorge La Laguna to life, a charming village nestled along the shores of Guatemala’s breathtaking Lake Atitlan. In the distance, the towering Toliman Volcano rises beneath a clear sky, while the lake stretches out in quiet splendor. The foreground is filled with the warmth of daily life—a woman in traditional Maya attire and a man in a wide-brimmed hat tend to their sheep, framed by white-walled homes with terracotta roofs and a central church. Lush greenery and bursts of pink, orange and yellow flowers weave through the scene, capturing the beauty and rhythm of this splendid village.

Titled Lago de Atitlán desde San Jorge in Spanish.

White rabbits chase glowing orange deer around an exquisite nierika, or votive beadwork composition by Kupihaute, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artisan, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl, Spanish and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "This nierika/mirror represents the duality of our existence. The rabbit symbolizes the permanent movement of earthiness reflected in the lunar mirror. The deer is the spirit that animates the movement of our wise memory, marking the spiral path of our ancestral cultures in permanent transformation and adaptation around the peyote-maize." The artist has created the word "eARThiness" to emphasize the word "art" found inside "earth." "For me, this eARThiness is very important and meaningful."

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.

Formed of three blue peyote buds, a lighted candle is radiant in this exquisite nierika, or votive beadwork painting by Kupihaute. A butterfly alights on either side in his composition, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artisan, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl, Spanish and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "The nierika is a mirror that is offered to the sea together with the first corn that has been harvested, in order to renew the cycle of rains that will give life to the next crop cycle. As in most of the ancient cultures of our planet, the candle represents our trajectory between being born and returning. For this reason, even today, during the celebration of our birthday, it is customary to light and blow out as many candles as solar cycles have elapsed. The butterflies and spirals are indicating that existence is energy in permanent transformation between arising from and returning to earth."

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.

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.

Breathtakingly beautiful, this stunning decorative headdress is styled after those designed for a bride. Akha artisan Thikaporn is proud to present this admirable headdress, handcrafted by her own mother, Sadaporn. She adorns the cotton headdress with an aluminum trapezoidal cap as well as multicolor pompoms. A waterfall of aluminum coins featuring dragons is flanked by multicolored glass beads to complete the grand design of this wedding headdress.

Originally from Yunan in China, Akha people live in Thailand's northern hills. Akha women are well known for their spectacular traditional costumes which include a headdress, a jacket worn over a halter-like garment, a short skirt, a sash with decorated ends, and leggings. Akha people are a proud and timeless culture, struggling to preserve their ancestral values through their traditional skills and knowledge. Akhas believe in continuity and see themselves as a link in the chain of life, which includes birth, procreation, the preservation of the Akha way of life – which venerates family life – and death, seen as a meeting with their ancestors.

In Mesoamerican belief, the skull is an very important symbol, not only of death as we know it, but also the afterlife. This white ceramic flowerpot by Aldo Alvarez is an interpretation of the Aztec tzompantli, a rack where the heads of sacrificial victims were displayed as an offering to the gods. One can be seen in the Templo Mayor museum in Mexico City.