Balvinder Pal - Kullu Shawls
Balvinder Pal is the master of the handloom with over twenty years of experience.
Loyalty to his heritage, history and cultural linkages which play a significant part in retaining and passing on skills from generation to generation.
Balvinder takes pride in his family's cottage production and the collective involvement and continuation of Artisanal craft matters more than increased production.
Balvinder weaving a Losar Stole during our visit in Oct 2021
National Award Weaver 2016
In 2016 Balvinder was awarded a National weavers certificate from India's Ministry of Textiles, after creating two amazing handmade shawls that took him about 6 months to make each. The masterpieces are now worth approx. 5-6 Lakh INR ($6-7K USD)
In a Himalayan mountain village called Naddi, he Balvinder has a small shop where he weaves and sells his hand-loom shawls and stoles. He commutes by bus between Kullu valley and Naddi by bus which takes about 6-7 hrs, spending a few weeks in each town and much less in the winter months where the snow fall can be too restricting for travel.
Many villagers have only a few months of the year to sell their goods as the winter months are too harsh for much trading.
Working woman in Kullu valley, HP. Taken in 2021
Balvinder and Indee during our 2022 trip to the Himalayas
"I have personally travelled around India for the last two years and Himachal has stolen my heart! The people, culture and handicraft are one of a kind and it doesn't compare to anywhere else I've travelled. I've search high and low for the best quality handloom shawls and I've finally met Balvinder and spent some time with him to see how the entire process works. A simple shawl that involves only weaving can take about one to two days to create and shawls with intricate designs can take months on end. Balvinder’s work has been recognized worldwide and has received numerous awards.
By purchasing the Kullu shawls you help support local villages and keep this beautiful cultural heritage alive" - Indee Lacayo
Balvinders award winning shawls
La Famila se Apellida
Gutiérrez Montano
Handmade Natural Wool Textiles of Teotitlan de Valle, Oaxaca.
(Name) cleaning a new rug after the looming process.
The family purchases their pre-spun wool from local farmers and it comes in various natural colours of the sheep, from there the husband and wife team up to dye the wool to the desire colour or shade required. Using century-old recipes, natural dyes are derived from marigold petals, añil, pomegranate zest, cochineal bug, seed pods, moss and pecan to create vibrant and unique colours. The wool is then washed and dried, re-spun and spooled in preparation for weaving.
Each family member helps with the entire manufacturing process. The younger members are now having a more modern and contemporary influence on the designs while the father maintains the traditional approach, both working together to create some amazing pieces of art .
The family of Apellida come from a long generation of Textile weavers located in a small mountain village in the foothills of the Sierra Juárez mountains named Teotitlán del Valle. This village is renown for its Zapotec history of Artisanal weaving. Almost every family in the village is contributing to this industry and there is a sense of pride in their ancestral art of design and culture. You can really feel this when you visit their homes, each family member is included in the manufacturing process which involves dying all the wool using naturally sourced ingredients, to involving the crafts to incorporate new designs and customer needs.
Our experience with the Apellida family was priceless and we left feeling like we had been part of the family. They have so much pride and attention to detail in their work, it was amazing to see and to learn how they create these masterpieces through traditional methods.
Husband and wife hard working duo on the looms.
Barro Negro (Black Clay) Handmade pottery
SAN BARTOLO COYOTEPEC
*Sample photos only. We deal with a family member in the main trading centre.
San Bartolo is a Zapotec community, which has been making pottery for about 2,000 years. The clay of this area produces a distinctive color, which for most of San Bartolo's history was a Greymatte. This clay has been used to produce utilitarian objects such as jars, dishes and other storage containers.
The techniques for making the pottery have changed little during these centuries, with plates serving as potters’ wheels and design remaining traditional. One change has been the replacement of underground pits by kilns for firing the pieces.
However, the most important innovation has been a polishing method devised by ceramic artist and potter Doña Rosa in the 1950s. Doña Rosa discovered that by polishing the nearly dry clay before firing, the gray colour turned to a shiny black. This has made the pottery far more popular, and many pieces are produced now for decorative purposes rather than utilitarian.
Since then, the aesthetic qualities of "barro negro" (black clay) pottery has become further appreciated due to the work of artisan-sculpture Carlomagno Pedro Martinez, who has displayed his barro negro work nationally and internationally.
Mujeres del Barro Rojos
San Marcos Tlapazola, Oaxaca
Elia Mateo Martínez and Indee share a moment during our visit to the village in April 2023
Barro Rojo pottery curing in the heat of the Mexican sun
Zapotec Women of the red clay
"Can't get any more earthy than red clay"
Macrina Mateo Martínez and her family grew up with very little, but at age sixteen she decided to travel and introduce the red clay to other regions around Mexico. It was uncommon for females to stray to far from the village. Her determination, bravery and vision to get the red clay notices worldwide was a success. Today, the pottery can even be found in the museum of Modern art in New York.
In the small village of San Marcos Tlapazola there is a talented group of women that continue to keep the ancestral red clay tradition alive.The women go out every spring with shovels to gather the red clay at the bottom of the foothills.The beauty of each piece is created by the hands of the determined Zapotec women and has an ancestral story to tell. Although, these women are born into and expected to carry on this tradition you can really sense the peace and satisfaction it brings to them.
Local mujeres (woman) return from the markets in San Marcos Tlapazola, Oaxaca. Feb 2023.