Our friends Jess and Charles needed to make one last visit to the handicraft market before heading back to Boston after the holidays. Naturally, I went along for the ride!
Ecuador is famous for the wide variety of its handicrafts. You name it, we’ve got it: tapestries, ceramics, wood carvings, leather goods, jewelry (including beautiful gold and silver), tagua, etc., etc. The list is endless.
Naturally, I am always drawn to the textiles:
Jamie, on the other hand, is really into jewelry, so on this occasion that was my focus. The variety available is simply amazing!
We are always amazed by the ingenuity of our local crafts people, who use just about anything to make beautiful and unusual jewelry. I didn’t take a pic (have I mentioned how I forget things?), but I purchased Jamie a pair of earrings made of fava bean pods! I mean, they actually use garbage (ok, organic matter) in their handicrafts!
Coconut
Orange rind
Seeds from the Amazon region
Mother of pearl
Painted horse and alpaca hair!
Crocheted earrings
Tagua (vegetable ivory)
All kinds of semi-precious stones
It truly is a privilege to be able to live in this country!
I am a self-learner. I taught myself to sew and to quilt. And I taught myself how to draw. I am learning how to dye my own fabrics and am dabbling with mixed media. I am a quilt designer and teacher, and design and publish my own line of quilt patterns. With this blog I would like to share the bits and pieces of my life.
One Comment
Beautiful!
Submitted by ipraragon on Sat, 01/09/2010 – 00:40.
Oh yes, all these are beautiful and original, but I’m really surprised with that made with horse and alpaca painted hair! What a fine and delicate work!
Irene.