great robes

Pedro Apop finds great inspiration in observing the elegance of Guatemala's birds and butterflies. He crafts this ceramic sculpture by hand in the shape of a yellow and black swallowtail butterfly. The artisan uses paints that he mixes with care in an effort to achieve the creature's natural colors. A hook at the back permits wall display, or the sculpture can pose on a tabletop.

Pedro Apop finds great inspiration in the birds and butterflies of Guatemala. He crafts this ceramic sculpture by hand in the shape of a monarch butterfly with beautiful black and orange wings. The artisan uses paints that he mixes with care in an effort to achieve colors as close to the real butterfly as possible. A hook on the back permits wall display, or the sculpture can pose on a tabletop.

Pedro Apop finds great inspiration in the birds and butterflies of Guatemala. He crafts this ceramic sculpture by hand in the shape of a forest nymph butterfly with beautiful black and white wings. The artisan uses paints that he mixes with care in an effort to achieve colors as close to the real butterfly as possible. A hook at the back permits wall display, or the sculpture can pose on a tabletop.

With this inspiring nativity scene Jose Canil Ramos preserves a tradition that began in Guatemala on Christmas of 1649. Back then, Holy Brother Pedro de Betancourt set up a nativity scene he had brought with him from the Canary Islands in Tenerife. In Canil's original version, the Three Wise Men bring a pineapple, a watermelon and a chicken as gifts from Guatemala. Ramos carves each figurine by hand from pinewood that was weathered and dried during the summer months. The characters' florid robes are painted by hand, and they stand on brown wood bases. Archangel Gabriel's wings are detachable. Including the bed, ox and donkey, this nativity set features 10 pieces.

Precise geometric motifs surround two red deer in an exquisite design. From talented members of Women United for Artisan Development, this cushion cover is woven by hand on a backstrap loom. Cording defines the borders, and the back is solid black.

Should one of the threads snag, the artisans suggest you pull it back into place from the back of the fabric with a fine crochet hook.