Artisans

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...

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...

"Malheureusement, j'ai perdu mon mari en 1999. Ça été une période très difficile pour toute la famille. J'ai du prendre en charge la boutique d'artisanat et ce ne fut pas facile" Je suis née en 1965 dans le département de Chalatenango, au El Salvador. J'ai vécu mon enfance avec ma mère et six frères et soeurs dans un magnifique environnement naturel. On était très heureux à jouer ensemble à profiter de la nature. Nos années de jeunesse ont été très joyeuses; nous étions si nombreux qu'il y avait toujours quelqu'un avec qui jouer! Lorsque je me suis mariée, mon mari...

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...

"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...