artful home decor

Perched on a floral branch, a majestic peacock adds a touch of beauty to your wall decor. Mexican artisan J. Blas creates this eye-catching wall sculpture, which he crafts from steel sheet. Each of the peacock's feathers is cut and painted by hand, and the peacock's body features a three-dimensional shape.

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.

By Javier Ramirez, this colorful wall plaque is inspired by the Sacred Heart. A symbol of Christ's love for man, the Sacred Heart was first venerated in 11th-century monasteries. Flowers cover the ceramic image, which is adorned with colorful flowers, leaves and butterflies in the style of Metepec's legendary tree of life tradition.

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.

Fierce and focused is the gaze of the Jaguar Warrior depicted in this ceramic mask handcrafted by the Angel Ceron Artisan Association of Mexico. Inspired by the images of these warriors from the 14th and 15th centuries found in Texcoco, the mask is a warrior's face beneath the sharp teeth of a jaguar. Above the jaguar head is an ornate headdress topped with a smaller open-mouthed jaguar and warrior face. The mask's details are hand painted in a myriad of earthy colors. A small loop at the top of the mask allows for it to easily be hung on a wall.

Wearing an ornate headdress with quetzal plumes, a Maya priest speaks, his words represented by speech glyphs. An oceotl or jaguar crowns the man, also speaking. The fierce spotted cat was thought to have sacred powers and, in the language of the Chol Maya, the name balam means both "jaguar" and "priest." The feline was believed to be the cause of both the lunar and solar eclipse, which resulted when the jaguar bit into the moon or the sun.

Artisans from the Angel Cerón Artisan Association work in yellow clay from Oaxaca, colored with mineral tints.

The striking image of Frida Kahlo gazes out from this colorful handcrafted ceramic plate. Designed by Mexican artisan Maria Isabel Cruz, the plate is made using the centuries-old dry rope technique, in which a wax mixture is applied to the outlines of the image or motif prior to glazing. The wax mixture creates a barrier that keeps the different fill colors in the design separate during firing, before burning off to reveal the blackened ceramic beneath. The plate can be hung on a wall for display via the nylon cord on the back.