Mexico destinations: Michoacan and its amazing folk art

Mexico, long famous for its popular art forms, has perhaps one of North America's richest regions for creativity and artistic designs. Nowhere in Mexico is the art scene as talented and concentrated as in the state of Michoacan.

In the land of the monarch butterfly - more than a hundred million migrate each year from distances as far away as Canada to Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve, their winter sanctuary in the eastern part of Michoacan - small towns and villages dot the countryside.

Each community specializes in its own medium: mask carvings, katrinas, hand-hammmered copper, reed weavings, hand-made guitars, pottery, woven woolens, clay devils and more. Soon after the Spanish conquest of the 1500‘s, Spanish bishop Don Vasco de Quiroga began implementing a project whereby each village would make their own unique crafts as a form of trade. Today’s descendants in these towns and villages are considered to be some of Mexico’s finest craftsmen.

If you enjoy the city life, consider Morelia as your base while visiting this region. You will be slightly removed from the area’s villages, but Morelia has much to offer. Culturally as rich as any city in the country, you will find a concentration of the region’s arts and folk art in many places throughout the city, although at higher prices than in the villages.

For small town flavor, spend time in Patzcuaro. You will be front and center to the arts communities surrounding it. In addition, Patzcuaro is one of the prettiest towns in all of Mexico. With a comprehensive charming accommodation list, you might want to narrow your room search by starting with the hotels around the plaza. Consider a room overlooking Plaza Vasco de Quiroga. A warning: this is a town that, once you visit, will have you returning again and again.

Located about twenty minutes from Patzcuaro, Santa Clara will greet you with the poetic sound of hammer to copper. Here, artisans continue their centuries-old tradition of producing hand hammered copper, pre-dating the Spanish conquest. So efficient are the methods used here that, upon discovery by the invading Spaniards, they were introduced back on the Spanish homeland. In Santa Clara you will find the copper museum where a highly recommended visit is in order. Hours vary, and if you’re having trouble gaining admission, discussing your problem with one of the highly respected coppersmiths could gain you a personal escort to the museum’s front door. There, with a knock at the door and a much respected suggestion to open the door, you could be granted access with your new-found personal guide by your side.

In many parts of the country, modern techniques have slowly crept in to replace age-old methods. Santa Clara is no exception. The traditional method - one that will bring tears to your eyes should you be fortunate enough to have an artist take you into his workshop where he will demonstrate this method - is still adhered to by all the respected artists in the community. It is a labor of love that begins by recycling copper. After gathering the old wires and scraps of copper, these are then placed in a ground furnace and melted down into a copper ingot. Then, the work begins.

Many times the mother or a daughter of the family will hold the heated ingot - placed on a large and heavy metal plate atop an anvil - with a pair of metal tongs, or pincers. As she slowly rotates the ingot, the father and sons, with sledge hammers in hand, start pounding. As the ingot cools, it’s returned to the furnace where it is reheated. The process is repeated, over and over and over. As the copper begins to thin, or stretch, the size of hammers are reduced. It is not unusual for an individual piece, upon completion, to have hundreds of thousands of hammer strokes. These pieces, sought by collectors, take months to complete and are some of the most beautiful in the village. Always, regardless of shape or size, they are produced from a single piece of copper. As one artist, Abdon Punzo, proudly states, “ I lie awake at night thinking of new designs.” He also works in hand-hammered silver. A visit to his showroom will leave you, if not breathless, speechless.

The alternative or newer method is much simpler. Thin and shiny sheets of copper, fresh from the copper mills, are used to build many of the current pieces one finds for sale. The tell-tale signs of these include the sheen, the lack of highly concentrated hammer marks, and seams on the larger pieces. The traditional method has it’s own tell-tale signs: a much more dull copper, complete with the smudge spots and impurities associated with re-cycled copper, the thickness of the individual works, and the high concentration of amazing hammer strokes. Because of the difference in these two methods and the reputation of the artist, prices will vary accordingly.

In addition to stunning works of art, the artisans in the village also produce bathroom tubs, sinks, vases, tabletops, and countertops, all with a beautiful copper patina.

A visit to Santa Clara will take a full day of your time, providing yet one more reason to spend the night in Patzcuaro.

Next in our series, a visit to Los Huicholes on the west coast.