Jaltemba Features

The Spirit of Mexico: Metal Artisan Fernando Hernandez

   By Tara Spears       

Aficionados of Mexican craftwork have long admired and collected handmade metal objects. There are several metal artists that have studios in the Riviera Nayarit area, including the master craftsman, Fernando Hernandez. His family operated studio produces “Indios Art” that offers outstanding ironwork items for the home.  A third generation ironwork artisan, Fernando (38) works with his 67 year old father who learned the craft from his father. “I started learning how to work with iron when I was eight years old,” said Fernando in perfect English. “I went to a bilingual school and since then I practice speaking English with the foreign customers.”

The family business is based in the charming pueblo of Zacualpan, Nayarit, which is 30 minutes northwest of Las Vargas. (Towards the coastal town of San Blas.)  This town is primarily a farming community that produces tobacco, watermelons, tomatoes, and beans.   More than 2,300 years ago, the reign of the Tecoxquines Indians was centered in present day Zacualpan, perhaps explaining why so many Mexican crafts are still produced there.  This tribe practiced a type of mysticism that was very ritualistic. The historic trail weaves throughout Nayarit with a main  ceremony center called Chacalan, (located in Zacualpan,) where the ancient Coras and Huicholes from the north of the state came to pay tribute to their gods and ask for good harvest and wealth.

“When I was 14, I didn’t want to work in the family business,” said Fernando.  “I went to work in the hotels and tried sales. But by the time I was 19, I realized how much people liked the things my family made, that it is an honor to be a part of such a talented family. I’m very happy to be a part of Indio Art for the last 20 years.”  Fernando works in the iron shop three days and takes the family’s products to various mercados to sell their wares three days a week in Sayalita, La Penita and Zacualpan.  “Our dream is to someday open an exclusive gallery for our work.”

The iron and glass candle holder (right) is one of their most popular folk art items.

Fernando and his four brothers learned to measure, cut, heat, weld, and work the metal on an anvil, as well as how to finish pieces with paint or patina techniques. He said it is his father that designs the style of the ironwork.   Brother Victor, 40, prefers to create lacquered tin art, specializing in metal sculptures and wall hangings. The iron pieces take about 8 hours to create; the tinworks about 30 hours depending on the size.  All of their items are hand finished with a protective paint or lacquer to enhance the appearance of  the metal and to prevent the heavy humidity of this coastal area from marring the metal. The gorgeous finished pieces are a tribute to their Mexican culture.

While the Hernandez family are  metal artisans, many of their pieces incorporate glass and clay.  They have cousins that hand-make the glass in the Mexican tradition. Household glassware was unknown to pre-conquest Mexicans. The first primitive Mexican glassware was produced in Puebla in 1542, consisting of decorative items such as animal figurines and flower vases. Blown glass is typically produced in the colors of blue, yellow, amethyst, green, and red. Since red is obtained through a tricky technique using gold salts, red is the most expensive color. One will notice the thick, textured quality of the glassware that adds visual interest- as opposed to the thinner, more translucent type of factory, mass-produced foreign-made glassware.

 When not working, Fernando likes to spend time with his wife of 12 years, Josepfina, and their three children: Nathan, Moses, and toddler Tanesha.  He also sings and plays guitar with a band. “I am so proud of my children!” says a beaming Fernando. 

The Indios Art is a family business whose Mexican art emphasizes quality and unique design. They are happy to make items to suit the customer’s specifications and they offer quantity pricing on special orders.  These delightful home décor items are a beautiful way to bring the spirit and joy of Mexico into your home!

Contact Fernando:   01-322-225-1350

or stop by the Thursday La Penita market to peruse their handmade crafts.

Missouri Ambulances Bound for San Blas Derek Spellman - Joplin Globe go to original     Warren Langland (right), president of the Neosho Rotary Club, accepts a donation of two used ambulances Thursday from Freeman Neosho Hospital. The club plans to donate the ambulances to the village of San Blas in Mexico. (Globe/B.W. Shepherd)   After making emergency runs in Southwest Missouri, a pair of ambulances will be making runs south of the border. Freeman Neosho Hospital donated two of its surplus ambulances on Thursday to the Neosho chapter of Rotary International. The Neosho chapter has been gathering medical supplies to send to San Blas, a remote fishing village of 12,000 people about 100 miles north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. “These units couldn’t have come at a better time since the only ambulance in San Blas was involved in an auto accident and has been scrapped,” said Warren Langland, president of the Rotary Club of Neosho. “Our club looks at this project as a privilege to live our motto, ‘Service above Self.’” Daxton Holcomb, chief executive officer of Freeman Neosho Hospital, said the two ambulances were surplus vehicles made available when Freeman’s ambulance service in McDonald County received replacements. The two ambulances have a lot of miles on them but have been well-maintained, he said. Langland said he first heard about the needs of San Blas from Jerry Bennett, a Springfield-based masonry contractor who has worked with Langland’s company, Neosho Concrete Products Co. Bennett has made regular trips to the village for the past seven years, and he delivers medical supplies, such as wheelchairs and crutches, along with toys and clothes. “This town is really poor,” Bennett said of San Blas, which has no industry. It is known for its fishing, jungles and bird-watching venues. Many of the inhabitants live in houses with dirt floors and no electricity, Bennett said. The local hospital is about 2,000 square feet and charges the equivalent of $5 per visit, Bennett said. “Nobody has got $5,” he said. Langland said Bennett provided him with a list of the medical supplies that San Blas needed. At the bottom of the list was a notation: two ambulances. Working with Medical Supplies Network Inc., a division of the regional Rotary Club based in Tulsa, Okla., the Neosho club started securing items on the list. Later, Langland said, he was walking past Freeman Neosho Hospital when he noticed a pair of ambulances in the parking lot, apparently no longer in use. Langland contacted Joe Yust, a Freeman employee and fellow Rotarian, to see whether the hospital could donate them. dspellman(at)joplinglobe.com

Pacific Ocean Brown Pelicans

                   Tara Spears

     First in a series of four seabird articles

One of the first things a visitor to the Pacific Ocean notices after the dazzling water color is the seabirds.  Whether flying in dense formation or bobbing in flocks on the water, the chunky pelican is distinctive.  The Riviera Nayarit is home to many permanent resident species of seabirds besides being in the migratory flyway for dozens of other types of migratory birds.  One doesn’t need to be a serious bird watcher to enjoy the antics of these amazing creatures.

As a group, seabirds almost always have webbed feet that aid their movement on the water’s surface as well as aid diving for dinner. This is an example of adaptation to living and feeding in the sea. All seabirds have evolved physiologically and behaviorally due to their ocean diet. Many seabirds feed on the ocean’s surface, as the marine currents often concentrate food such as krill, fish, squid or other prey items within reach of a dipped head.  The plumage of most seabirds is less colorful than that of land birds, being restricted to variations of black, grey, or white. Another survival adaptation is to live in colonial groups, so seeing a solitary pelican is usually an indication of illness or injury.

Pelicans are easily identified by their large bills and stretchable pouches. The pouch is used to capture fish, which the pelican usually swallows immediately. Although the brown pelicans are the smallest of the pelican species, they are still large seabirds and can weigh up to eight pounds (almost 3 kilos), with a huge wingspan of over 6 feet (2 meters)! Males are usually larger and heavier than females. Adults are gray to brown with white and yellowish heads. Sexual maturity is reached after three to five years. In the wild, brown pelicans may live 15 to 25 years.  The sexes look similar, though males are slightly larger, with short, dark legs, long, broad wings, a large, heavy all-brown body, white neck, pale yellow face, and a huge bill that is paler at the base and tipped with yellow. The pelican picture at the beginning is a sexually active adult, while the picture to the right of this paragraph is an immature bird, but both are the same species of brown pelican.

 The pelicans primarily eat fish of little value to humans, as well as salamanders, shrimp, and crayfish. During breeding season, the birds often forage at night, locating fish by touch. While small fish are the major part of their diet, they can eat surprisingly large ones. Brown pelicans also eat some invertebrates, such as squid. They are a familiar sight around fishing ports within their range, where they roost on piers, docks, and fishing boats, ready to catch fish scraps. White Pelicans are notable for their habit of cooperative foraging—coordinated flocks of swimming birds encircle fish or drive them into the shallows where they become concentrated and are more easily caught. Brown Pelicans are highly social year-round and breed in colonies of up to several thousand pairs. While some American White Pelican populations in Texas and Mexico are permanent residents, most are migratory, moving in daytime flocks.

Local island sanctuary: Isla Peña

 We are very fortunate to have a beautiful little island in Jaltemba Bay that is a breeding spot for several species of seabirds, including the brown pelican. Pelicans nest in colonies for safety. Both sexes build the nest which is a scrap or debris mound on the ground, or a stick nest in a tree. Nesting on islands is preferred. Pelicans usually lay two or three eggs. Both parents care for the naked, helpless chicks. They feed their chicks by regurgitating a kind of “fish soup” until the chicks are two weeks old. During breeding season, pelican colonies are sensitive to disturbance by tourists and fisherman. Adult birds can be frightened off their nests, and newly hatched chicks can die quickly in the blazing sun. Their skittishness is understandable: For centuries, many fishermen have considered the birds as competitors for fish, and in the past, the fishermen often raided pelican colonies to kill the birds.                   

Pelican Myths:

The indigenous peoples of Mexico revered many birds as ancient gods, and pelican feathers have appeared in many carvings and ritual garments. Additionally, because of an early Western Christian myth that the birds split open their breasts to feed their starving chicks, pelicans have long been a symbol of mercy and altruism.

Contact Tara: tara.sprs@yahoo.com