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To live and enjoy every day to its fullest, use my gifts to help others, I travel to wherever passion finds me.

What Will She Paint?

So many friends I met here...!

Monday, May 18, 2009

SMALL HANDCRAFTED TREASURES

Love to walk around in Old Town because they give the old fashioned crafts as well as hand made items a chance to show. Since San Diego is close to the border with Mexico there is a strong Hispanic influence. Please click on image to enlarge.




The bowls are made from gourds. Gourds look a little like pumpkins. When gourds are dried the shell or peel is so hard that it can hold food. Then they are hand painted, and the artist also made use of branding.





A mirror with a handpainted frame. My hubby likes to trick viewers with his photos. what you see in the frame is a reflection of glasses on shelves across from the mirror.





Pretty had painted dishes.





A woodwork shop with horses and other items made of wood. This whitewashed horse is my favorite. Sorry there was little space to make a perfect picture without bumping into something else:)





Hand made jewelry. A glass and enamel work pendant in bright colors. The artist did an excellent job on this piece.





This is a refined work or artistry. The combination of silver with pearls, coral and turquoise is beautiful. This necklace was displayed underneath glass, so I could not reposition the necklace.

If my pocket was filled up more, I would have taken each of these small treasures home with me! But it was fun even to show you these.
Another time I'll show you the candle making, the tin artistry in lamps, and the taffy making.

26 comments:

Carol Murdock said...

Jeanette, this was really beautiful workmanship!I love the Butterflies on the gourd!

Unknown said...

You remind me of when I could go to the boarder when I had a friend living in Brownsville, Texas. Really beautiful items.

Unknown said...

I love all the handcrafted items but especially the blue and white dishes... am a fanatic for blue and white!

Great finds Jeannette!

Linda S. Socha said...

Wonderful photos and this is a great blog. Thank youfor sharing these lovely treasues
Linda

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I am glad you are back safe and sound and hope you had a fantastic time. I especially like the first one made from the gourd. During my visits there I collected the beautiful pottery that is made there. That pendant on the red material is fantastic. Love the bright colors.

Jeannette StG said...

Carol,
Yes, beautiful isn't it, and a creative mind to use a vegetable and make it into a work of art!

Jeannette StG said...

Joey,
glad that this craftmanship brought up some good memories you had in Texas!

Jeannette StG said...

Jane,
I can imagine that you with your decorative painting talent would have an special interest in this. I never get tired of blue and white combination either!

Jeannette StG said...

Linda thank you -glad you like this blog post! You're welcome to visit any time:)

Jeannette StG said...

Joan,
Yes, a great and hot in temps. time! Your visits "there" - meaning California, or Mexico?
That pendant was hanging on a door all the way to the end of a small alley in a shop with many leather goods.

Dina said...

Interesting stuff. Always amazes me what artists can do with simple raw material.

Rosie said...

Thank you so much for showing us these treasures - they are wonderful, the craftsmanship and the colours. I like the gourd bowls and the mirror is gorgeous:)

Jeannette StG said...

Dina,
I never get tired of looking at hand crafted items from different countries. And yes, I think that's how an artist's mind works, to find a different use for an ordinary object.

Jeannette StG said...

Rosie,
there's one advantage to having a small pocket - now I don't have to choose between the items - I would have a tough time!

DUTA said...

I have a similar wooden horse at home, and I like it a lot. The two pendants are exquisite pieces of aristic jewelery. The prevailing color on the dishes seems to be..grey. Well, grey is not my color for dishes.

Jeannette StG said...

Duta,
You still have the wooden horse - lucky you! And I love the jewelry too, as I would have bought it, but the price was a "little" too high:)
Sorry, my photographic skills are not that good - the dishes are white and a dark blue (you can see it better on the big plate on the left side).

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

"There" meaning the USA. I traveled all over the show and have seen a large portion of it. The best pottery and jewelery seemed to be in Okalahoma. I loved all the places I visited but by far the best was Arizona which I fell in love with. :) If I ever went there to stay, it would be there.

Irene said...

I remember going to Old Town and having a wonderful time walking around there and having a splendid meal there as well. I especially liked the old hacienda that you could visit, built around a courtyard. Very nice cool rooms. It was a wonderful thing to see.

Jeannette StG said...

Joan,
Didn't know you did extensive travel here :). I love American Native jewelry, pottery and weaving and one of the best places for that is Flagstaff. Where in Arizona were you?
Maine would be the next state of my favorites after California.

Jeannette StG said...

Irene,
I think I know where you mean - those cool rooms are now stores. The Mexican food is good here! About 2 years ago they had a change in stores, and I miss the old ones:) In the main street of Old Town are all the shops located where my pics are of, and this is also where I get my coffee grind!!

Lynette said...

Ooh, what gorgeous items and I especially love those hand painted gourds and that beautiful pendant! Thanks for sharing these treasures with us!

Jeannette StG said...

Lynette,
You're welcome, it was fun to display these artistries. The gourds were especially inspirationally. I thought may be to try my hand at it sometime (have to admit I always have a list of a 100 things, that I never get to- haha)

Eleanor said...

I just love those blue and white plates! It must be wonderful to go shopping in the Old Town.

Jeannette StG said...

Eleanor,
Yes, I never get tired of it, window shopping there! You know the expression? It's look but not buy!

Tad-n-Tina said...

Wow! Those Gourds are amazing. I've spent a lot of time in Mexico and have my own little collection of art from our travels, but I dont have one of those! mm.. I Love Butterflies! Reminds me of hiking into the forests of Mexico and witnessing the butterfly migration *smile* Thank you for sharing!

Jeannette StG said...

Tina,
Like to see your collection sometime! But do you realize, I saw the gourds in San Diego Old Town?
Wow, I love to see a butterfly migration. Do you know that some bloggers abbreviate the word "smile" with this sign :) ?
Thanks for your visit:)