Chile Norte Collection

One corner of the wall in our family room is what I call my "Chile Norte Collection" ... on it, I have various pieces of artisan artwork reflecting the area of Chile where God has called us to serve.

The artist who made this has a shop at the Aldea de Los Dominicos, an artisan village which caters to tourists. He paints anything and everything - palettes such as this one, small pieces of furniture, even wooden spoons. (My favorite pieces are his narrow, very long paintings but they are not quite in my price range!) I believe this painting is of the traditional adobe church in San Pedro de Atacama.

I found this painting at a temporary artisan market set up outside one of our malls around Christmastime. If you look at it closely, you can tell the artist is still perfecting his style but nevertheless I loved that it was a painting of the Portada of Antofagasta (and, it only cost $10!) This was actually Pedro's gift for Christmas but he lets me use it in my little collection.

This is the latest addition to the collection and was my birthday present from my sister (thanks, Jenn!) We purchased it at the artisan shops at Santa Lucia downtown. It is made out of "cobre esmaltado" (copper which is painted and then "cooked" at a high temperature, I believe.) Unfortunately, I didn't recognize the name of the town it represents but I do know it is in the north somewhere ... so it counts!