The Painter's Back and Some Favorites

My granddaughter Lisa is back on the ladder finishing up the front. It is amazing how life gets in the way of teenagers and projects they need to finish. Its finally done. I have made three trips to Ecuador over the last 14 years. Its a fabulous country with magnificent volcanoes and beautiful countryside. A man in Tigua, a small town in the mountains began painting beautiful folk art on sheepskins a couple of decades ago and started a now world renowned art form. He and his family members and others now teach the skills to locals from their area. The paintings are sold all over Ecuador. I was lucky enough to find some excellent examples early on. They are now all over the house.
On my first trip I also found an exquisite arparilla...a local village scene...made by craftswomen in Columbia. In most South American countries you can find crafts from all over the continent. This one is exquisitely made with massive amounts of hand embroidery and hand applique. Each figure has something in their hands...such as a wooden hoe...or is stuffed. I haven't seen one from Columbia in a number of years. Most of the current ones are much coarser and smaller, and made by women in the slums of Lima Peru.