cute sculptures

Regal, beautiful and mystical, the butterfly is thought to symbolize the soul. Mexican artisan Alejandro de Esesarte, a lifelong butterfly collector, crafts this indoor/outdoor wall art from steel that he paints by hand in bright colors. These winged pollinators are ready to make the migration north to brighten up your patio.

Shaped by hand, this dazzling hummingbird features cutout motifs to define its lovely plumage. J. Blas works in steel to create the wall sculpture. In Mexico, when someone sees a hummingbird in flight, he or she makes a wish.

Directly from festive Mexican lands, this cheeky feline arrives to infuse your interiors with fun audacity. Nohemi Calixto works with whimsical artistry in this ceramic sculpture, whose combination of naïf and expressionist styles allows the artisan to depict the kitty in all its cunning grace while boasting cute cerise hues.

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.