Artisans
Rigoberto & Carlos Conejo
LATITUDES World Decor
Handcrafted serve ware and home decorCosta Rica "We strive to innovate in designs with meaning and that share a glimpse of Costa Rica's beauty. This is a source of pride for us.""We've worked together since the 1980s. We grew up in an artisan family in a Costa Rican town known for its woodwork. This let us gain experience in our art."Our grandparents were well known for their woodwork and we've always been surrounded by beautiful artwork. My brother Carlos and I have focused on utilitarian designs for the home while we perfected our techniques. "It was Carlos who started working...
Hugo Pena
LATITUDES World Decor
Wood carvingGuatemala "I want to innovate the realm of wood art by combining it with such materials as leather, textiles and ceramic, with contemporary designs.""I was born in a small Guatemalan village on the Caribbean coast called Izabal, and when I was three years old the whole family moved to the city. My parents were a powerful influence during my childhood and adolescence. "Mother was a teacher and her vocation to continuous learning, teaching, and the gift she had to transmit her knowledge inspired me and marked my life. Dad also worked in academia and taught industrial art. He learned...
Maria Estela Perlera de Portillo
LATITUDES World Decor
Hand-painted wood boxes and decor "Sadly, in 1999, my husband died. It was very difficult for the whole family, and I had to make a decision to continue with our artisan workshop. It wasn't easy.""I was born in 1965 in the Department of Chalatenango in El Salvador. I spent my childhood with my mother and six brothers and sisters in a beautiful natural setting. We had such good times playing together and enjoying nature. We grew up very happy and, because there were so many of us, I always had someone to play with. "When I married, my husband and...
Alessandra Foletti
LATITUDES World Decor
Handcrafted ceramic jelwelry & home decorHonduras "This is an act of love toward women artisans, but it hasn't been all that easy.""Art runs in my family: my grandmother used to paint, two of my uncles were jewelry makers, a cousin sculpts, and my mother painted beautiful compositions on silk. I was born in Trento (Italy) and my career in painting and ceramics began in Switzerland and Italy. I studied engineering in Switzerland, then anthropology in Mexico. In 1983 my husband and I moved to Honduras to work with the Lenca people and here I began an ethnographic research on their...
God's Seed Cooperative
LATITUDES World Decor
"Our hopes and dreams are to provide opportunities for more men, women, fathers and mothers to have a better life, to send their children to school, to feed and clothe them." "Our cooperative was founded in 1977 in El Salvador. Among the founders is the painter Fernando Llort who, together with other artisans, created world-famous designs. We began our work in 1976 with a workshop school to teach painting and carpentry skills, and then the cooperative was founded. We chose the name God's Seed to honor the seed of the jatoba or copal tree because, from the beginning, we painted...