colorful sculpture

A colorful representation of the Hindu god Nataraja, the name given to Shiva when depicted as a divine cosmic dancer, will enliven your home. The stunning figurine crafted in India is hand-carved from kadam wood and painted by hand in vibrant shades in a design presented by Dayal J. Daryanani.

In the 1930s, Mexico City saw the beginning of a fascinating art style. After a feverish dream full of mystic and fantastic creatures, Pedro Linares started to create colorful animal-like sculptures called alebrijes. Since that day, many artisans have continued Pedro's legacy, making outstanding works such as this steel dragon wall sculpture by Alejandro de Esesarte.

"I was drawing an alebrije-like figure, when a little girl came to see what I was doing and joyfully shouted with a big smile, 'alegrijes!' She misspelled 'alebrijes,' and we all laughed," he recalls.

"Later in the day, it hit me — the little girl didn't make a mistake. Because by changing a single letter, she gave me the new name for my line of alebrijes. They will be called alegrijes.

Alegre' means means 'joy.' Alegrijes — the ones who bring joy." Using a colorful palette, the artisan crafts a piece of wall art perfect for adding a magical touch to your environment.

Mexico's pre-Hispanic cultures honored their dead through celebrations and commemorations; after the arrival of the Spaniards, these cultural traditions became fused with the Catholic church's rituals and holidays, notably All Souls' Day in November which is now commonly known as the Day of the Dead. Influenced by these ancestral customs, artisans have been creating handicrafts using skull imagery for centuries. Jesus and Roxana Hernandez of the Mexican state of Oaxaca present this eye-catching skull-shaped home decor piece carved by hand from copal wood. Against a yellow base color, black lines are drawn to simulate a scaly texture, then the skull is further hand decorated with patches of geometric patterns on the top and sides in red, green, and pink. The dark eye sockets and nasal cavities are outlined in blue and green. Two rows of pearly white teeth complete the colorful cranium.

This wonderful alebrije figurine is the original creation of Mexico's Claudio Ojeda. The Oaxacan artisan carves the howling wolf by hand from cedar wood, and then paints it by hand with colorful motifs. His tail is removed during shipping for safety.

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 ran at him, shouting "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. The same style of painting can also be found on other (non-animal) items.

Working in the folk art style of alebrije sculptures, Mexican duo Pablo and Lucy Mendez create this striking addition to your home decor. Carved of copal wood and painted by hand with dot motifs in fiery tones of red, yellow, and orange, a lithe tree frog splays its limbs.

Alebrijes are a fairly recent Mexican art form, attributed to Pedro Linares. Unconscious due to illness in 1936, he was presumed near death and yet his dreams were extremely vivid. He tells of a place where all was peaceful and quiet until all of a sudden there appeared a lion with an eagle's head, a rooster with bull's horns and a donkey with butterfly wings. They kept screeching "alebrije, alebrije!" and Pedro began running away. He encountered a man who told him it was not yet his time to be there are and he should continue running towards the exit. In this dream Pedro climbed out of a window and regained consciousness.