earthy decor

A musician in traditional Ghanaian dress plays a kora (a harp-like guitar) in this beautiful work of threadwork art from Ernestina Oppong Asante. The artisan places the cotton threads one by one to create the colorful and appealing composition.

Guatemala's jaspe fabrics are varied and beautiful. A type of ikat weaving, the threads are tie-dyed before they are placed on the floor loom. Members of the Women Artisans of Santa Cruz cooperative place 15 jaspe flags in assorted colors and patterns on a decorative garland. "These represent Tibetan prayer flags," the artisans say. "Their colors have meanings of their own — blue is a symbol of water, red is for fire, green for air and yellow for the earth. The cloth is woven by hand with much love. Many Maya hands have touched each textile, and we're proud to use recycled fabric. For us, recycling is another form of promoting peace and prosperity for ourselves and for our Mother Earth. Please remember that your attitude when installing these prayer banners is very important, and we ask that you take a moment to wish for peace for people everywhere so they can receive the benefits of our blessings. We want everyone to be free and at peace."

A typical West African village is depicted in this wall hanging, with palm trees and huts in the background and a woman cooking over a fire in the foreground. Ghanaian artist K. Baka hand-paints the earth-toned wall hanging in acrylic paints on cotton fabric.

The Akan civilization believed that each child came from God, and so each baby was born with a special blessing. This traditional belief initiated the Ghanaian day naming system, which gives a unique name to a child born on a particular day of the week, signaling their spiritual traits. Motivated by this custom, artist Emmanuel Atiemoh Yeboah puts his talent into practice and creates this cotton batik wall art, whose stars, moon details and classic motifs in pink, red and black hues represent the souls born on Thursday, the day of those who connect with Earth.