our other artists:
Luis Gonzalez
Jaslico, Mexico
Tzopelli
Puebla, Mexico
The Calvo Family
Oaxaca, Mexico
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The Calvo Family
The Calvo Family live at the entrance into the town of San Martin Tilcajete in the State of Oaxaca. This sleepy town with its traditional cornfields along the side of the road and church cupula, shimmering in the distance, is now world famous because of the "Alebrijes." The Calvo Family is made up of wood carvers. Juana Calvo and her family carve and shape small and large pieces of copal and other woods into known animals such as cats, horses, tigers, turtles, and many others. They also carve fantastic pieces, like dragons and winged pegasus and other mythological creatures.
The Calvos and many other families in this town about 15 miles south east of the capital city of Oaxaca, are known throughout Mexico and abroad as the only town where these creatures (Alebrijes) are made, though the actual story about the meaning and origins of the Alebrijes varies depending on who you happen to meet.
An artisan in Mexico City who specializes in paper mache figures, claims to have been cured by a "fantastic dream in which animals of wild shapes were screaming the word "Alebrijes" to him, thus the term alebrijes and the immediate re-creation of these "animals" for his family to see. Another story in Oaxaca claims that an old man decades ago, saw animals in his dream which also he re-created to show people what he'd seen in his dream.
In both stories, the children of these men have kept up with the tradition and learned to carve or shape alebrijes. However, the word "Alebrijes" is widely used in Oaxaca to describe the wooden animals and figures that the artisans of San Martin Tilcajete and other smaller towns carve and paint in very colurful and intricate designs. Many of these designs can be found at De Colores as well as through our website. |
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