mexican beadwork

Decorated with hearts and flowers, a festive white skull celebrates Mexico's Day of the Dead. Artisans from the Huichol Center for Cultural Survival and Traditional Arts demonstrate their skill with traditional beadwork. Crafted by hand, the pendant dances on a black cord.

Carved by hand from native sese wood, a salmon swims upstream. Embossed aluminum adorns the lateral fins and intricate beadwork covers the head. This elegant sculpture is designed by Ghana's Anna Yawson.

Adriana Trejo creates iconic earrings, depicting the renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo with colorful glass seed beads.

Wearing a floral crown in her hair, the portrait of Mexico's most famous artist, Frida Kahlo, is immediately recognizable in this pair of dangle earrings. Mexican artisan Adriana Trejo designs these earrings, crafted by hand from petite beads of glass in the style of Huichol handicrafts. Frida wears an orange blouse.

Assembled by hand, petite glass beads create the image of renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Adriana Trejo creates this pendant necklace, which is crafted in the traditional style of Huichol handicrafts. A strand of black glass beads circles the neck.

Formed of three blue peyote buds, a lighted candle is radiant in this exquisite nierika, or votive beadwork painting by Kupihaute. A butterfly alights on either side in his composition, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artisan, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl, Spanish and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "The nierika is a mirror that is offered to the sea together with the first corn that has been harvested, in order to renew the cycle of rains that will give life to the next crop cycle. As in most of the ancient cultures of our planet, the candle represents our trajectory between being born and returning. For this reason, even today, during the celebration of our birthday, it is customary to light and blow out as many candles as solar cycles have elapsed. The butterflies and spirals are indicating that existence is energy in permanent transformation between arising from and returning to earth."

The intricate images are formed with tiny seed beads. Kupihuate patiently places them one at a time with a needle made of abalone shell onto a huanacaxtle wood backing. Beeswax is used instead of glue.

The process is totally spontaneous, with no previous sketch or design. It is guided by the artist's unconscious to tell the stories that remain in our collective ancestral memory. He signs his work with the symbol of a butterfly on the reverse side of the nierika.

White rabbits chase glowing orange deer around an exquisite nierika, or votive beadwork composition by Kupihaute, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artisan, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl, Spanish and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "This nierika/mirror represents the duality of our existence. The rabbit symbolizes the permanent movement of earthiness reflected in the lunar mirror. The deer is the spirit that animates the movement of our wise memory, marking the spiral path of our ancestral cultures in permanent transformation and adaptation around the peyote-maize." The artist has created the word "eARThiness" to emphasize the word "art" found inside "earth." "For me, this eARThiness is very important and meaningful."

The intricate images are formed with tiny seed beads. Kupihuate patiently places them one at a time with a needle made of abalone shell onto a huanacaxtle wood backing. Beeswax is used instead of glue.

The process is totally spontaneous, with no previous sketch or design. It is guided by the artist's unconscious to tell the stories that remain in our collective ancestral memory. He signs his work with the symbol of a butterfly on the reverse side of the nierika.

Petite glass beads in iridescent greens and purple are used to craft this necklace from Mexico. By Adriana Trejo, it features beadwork in the style of Huichol handicrafts. Yet the feel is distinctly modern with a waterfall of roots that fan out like lace.

A myriad shades of blue conjure a cool and soothing universe in this elegant nierika, or votive beadwork painting by Kupihaute. Scorpions scuttle purposefully around the center of the composition, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artist, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "From the focal center of the nierika, the precious flower arises in spiral movement as the culminating expression of the deepest roots. The blossom is keeping in its entrails the seed that will disseminate the power of creative energy. This is symbolized by the scorpions that, in their wonderful body symmetry, show the essence of the power itself, since any imbalance in its mating dance, any missing the target, will cause its own poisoning and thus its own death. Therefore the symbol of cosmos, of order is shown in their mouths and the tails."

The intricate images are formed with tiny seed beads. Kupihuate patiently places them one at a time with a needle made of abalone shell onto a huanacaxtle wood backing. Beeswax is used instead of glue.

The process is totally spontaneous, with no previous sketch or design. It is guided by the artist's unconscious to tell the stories that remain in our collective ancestral memory. He signs his work with the symbol of a butterfly on the reverse side of the nierika.

These beadwork earrings are as mesmerizing as rain drops falling on tropical leaves in the rain forest. Adriana Trejo in west central Mexico takes her inspiration from summer showers using seed beads in black, green and blue. Each tiny glass globe is individually strung with great precision to wear on sterling silver hooks.

Cascading fringe and intricate beadwork come together in a striking display of craftsmanship in these gorgeous waterfall earrings. Mexican artisan Adriana Trejo hand-threads each tiny bead, forming a protective Turkish eye pattern surrounded by a flowing mix of white and contrasting shades. Polished sterling silver hooks complete the design, making these earrings a distinctive statement piece.

A cascade of aqua, tangerine, peach and espresso is transformed into earrings almost five inches long. By skilled artisans from Mexico's Huichol Center for Cultural Survival and Traditional Arts, these bold waterfall earrings make a dramatic fashion statement. The lovely seed beads and faceted globes dance on sterling silver hooks.