Toward the back of Nuestra Tierra, on Half Moon Bay's Main Street, you find a wooden, hand-carved virtual menagerie.
There are birds, coyotes, raccoons, anteaters and more. The work of different artisans, the animals all seem captured in motion, with tails aloft and expressive eyes wide, decorated in bright colors and textured with tiny white dots, and lined with intricate and ancient motifs.
|
|
"I think he's one of two finest woodcarvers of his generation," said Charles Nelson, co-owner of Nuestra Tierra with wife Nidia, both of whom will host Angeles on his 11-day Coastside visit.
Angeles hails from San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca, not far from the community of Santiago del Pozo, Oaxaca, which is home to many migrant workers who travel to Half Moon Bay to work.
Angeles, a 32-year-old Zapotec Indian, has consistently received prizes and honors for his art. He is something of a prodigy, having carved since he was in his teens, but Nelson describes him as "a newcomer to it."
Woodcarving as a craft, has existed among the Zapotec Indians for generations. But it is only in the last 40 to 50 years that it has achieved status as an art, highly sought after by collectors.
Some of Angeles' awards have included a paid trip to the Smithsonian Institution to exhibit and demonstrate his work, and a first place in the prestigious, statewide FONART contest in Oaxaca. He has come away with many awards from trips to the United States to participate in folk art competitions.
This is his second visit to Nuestra Tierra, where he will work from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 16 and 17, and again on Oct. 22-24. The store is located at 421 Main St. in Half Moon Bay.
"I'm thrilled he's making a second visit here," said Nelson, recalling how, on his fist trip, Angeles stopped by Hatch Elementary, Cunha Intermediate and Half Moon Bay high schools to visit with the Zapotec students and share their mutual culture.
Angeles will be in Half Moon Bay two weekends "for people who want to see him but don't want to deal with (Pumpkin Festival) crowds," said Nelson.
What visitors will see, when he goes to work, is an amalgam of creativity and culture. Angeles uses copal wood he cuts himself on travels far from his village (and will bring from home for his Coastside visit). He starts by drying the wood and then taking a long, hard look at each piece to see
what sort of animal it lends itself to.
"He gets creative ideas of what figure he can turn the piece into," said Nelson, adding only half-jokingly, "The wood tells him what animal it wants to be."
Then, Angeles reaches for a machete and hews out the general shape of the animal he has chosen. Then he refines the shape, using a knife for the detailed work.
The finishing touches of painting are handled by both Angeles and his wife, Maria, an accomplished painter in her own right. Using fine brushes, they paint the animal in colors that range from bright to more subdued, and then add the intricate, almost geometric designs.
Those designs set Angeles' work apart from other artisans in the same genre, as he draws from pre-Columbian Zapotec culture, designs and ancient motifs.
The Zapotec philosophy is closely aligned with nature and animals, and carries the view that every human has a spiritual animal counterpart. Angeles' animal is the coyote, an animal that, not surprisingly, he frequently carves. He is also known for his carvings of iguanas and dragons.
He uses more natural materials that produce subdued colors. The pigments he uses come from minerals, plants and even a certain insect which is generally found infesting cactus. Once crushed, the bodies of those insects yield varying shades of red. Maria, using acrylic paint, routinely achieves brighter hues.
Family members help out, including their 9-year-old child. (A second child, 3 months old, will no doubt help in the future.)
Many of the Angeles family's pieces are regularly displayed at Nuestra Tierra, where they sell for between $18 to $950 depending on size, complexity and uniqueness of the piece.
For more information, call Nuestra Tierra at 712-9135.
w