nice sculpture

Mexican artisan Javier Ramirez celebrates the Christian story of Noah's ark with this "tree of life" sculpture. In the center, Noah stands alongside a giraffe and an elephant, flanked by birds and butterflies. Floral designs surround the central composition. Each piece is diligently crafted from ceramic and painted by hand, assembled by steel wire.

Not intended for use with candles.

Crafted of ceramic, this vibrant tree frog will add beautifully to your wall decor. Mexican artisan Sergio Ponce designs this wall sculpture, painting the frog with vibrant Talavera-style motifs and a body of green. Says Ponce, "I love the great variety of colors and designs that I can transmit in each one of our pieces, always maintaining excellent quality."

"This is the renowned Peruvian Paso Horse or Peruvian Walking Horse," Johnny Chamba says. The smooth-gaited breed was declared a Cultural Heritage of the Nation by Peru's Institute of Culture in 1992. Masterfully carving cedar wood, the artisan depicts the horse in a tooled leather saddle and bridle.

Prepare herbs, spices and sauces the way our ancestors did--with handmade stone tools. Grupon Comonfort presents this traditional footed molcajete or stone mortar, crafted by hand from volcanic basalt. The pestle, called a tejolote, is used to grind or crush the foodstuffs in the molcajete. The molcajete can also be used as a unique serving dish for salsa or guacamole.

The artisans recommend that the molcajete be "cured" before the first use. To cure the molcajete, place some dried beans, corn or rice in the bowl and grind with the pestle until pulverized. Allow the pulverized grain to sit for 15 minutes. Once this has been done, the molcajete can be hand washed and allowed to dry. This step will ensure that any stone dust remaining from the carving process does not affect the food.

God of fertility in some Native American belief systems, Kokopelli is often depicted as a man or a bug who plays a long flute. Mexican artisan Juana Ponce creates this Kokopelli wall sculpture, which is crafted from ceramic and painted by hand with colorful floral motifs in the style of Talavera handicrafts.