Guatemalan Oil Paintings Have Arrived

It wasn't only oil rubbings that arrived from Guatemala last week - we also received a couple of oil paintings from Santiago artist Martin Chavajay. We have a couple of these enigmatic paintings on sale at the Fair Trade Cafe, the above example entitled "Corn Harvest Scene" is oil on canvas, 11" X 9" in size, and is on sale unframed at $95. We currently have two of Martin's oil paintings on sale and hope to have some more paintings from a variety of Guatemalan artists in the near future.

In other news, our first Nicaraguan painting will be heading to the printers this week as the first in our range of limited edition prints. The aim is to have these on sale, online through the blog as well as in the Fair Trade Cafe, hopefully by the end of November.
We are also expecting our first three Australian Aboriginal pieces this week, plus some very cute Peruvian finger puppets - more of which next time!

New In - Mayan Oil rubbings from Guatemala

This weekend will see several new pieces of art on display at the Fair Trade Cafe, including this unusual Mayan Oil Rubbing from Guatemala, one of several by artist Antigua. This particular rubbing is from the Temple of the Cross at the Mayan city of Palenque in Mexico. 'El Fumador', or 'The Smoker' is and aged deity of the West, known as "God L" who has been identified as an important Underworld and War god. He appears on the sanctuary jamb of the Temple of the Cross smoking tobacco and wearing a jaguar cloak and headress made from the feathers of the mythical Mayan Moan bird.

The rubbing is made by stretching cloth (100% cotton) over a mahogany reproduction of the original stone carving, and applying oil paint to the raised areas.
This particular piece is 22.5" X 15" in size These are very unusual and enigmatic pieces which I am sure will be popular with our customers! At the moment you can get a voucher for 15% off when you get your picture framed by our friends at The Art of Framing (located at Central & Camelback).