News — buying artesania

Quality Matters

August 11, 2024 • artesania • buying artesania • handmade

Over our twenty year history (yes, 20!) we've had to struggle a bit with quality control. The artisans we continue to buy from year after year do a very good job. Sometimes we receive pieces that aren't up to our standards, and we usually let the producers know so they'll be more careful in the future. Occasionally we decide not to buy again from an artisan when he or she appears to be uninterested in improving the quality of their product. We strive to get the best quality because customer satisfaction is very important to us.

Mexico By Hand and the Diego Rivera exhibit at SFMOMA!

July 30, 2022 • buying artesania • catrina • clay • crafts • exhibit • folk art • Huancito • Mexican • museum • rebozos • Rivera • SFMOMA

It was a challenging project to bring artesánia from Michoacán to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for the Diego Rivera exhibit, but Mexico By Hand is thrilled and honored to play a part of this wonderful show. Here's how it happened...

Huancito pots: Another story behind the art!

July 29, 2022 • buying artesania • Huancito • pottery

We have a lot of incredible memories (both good and bad) of buying and selling the beautiful burnished clay pots of Huancito. I love their art and enjoy sharing it with folks in the U.S. Here's a good story about how we met a young artisan from one of the village's families online.

Shipping News! SUMMER 2019

October 04, 2019 • artesania • authentic • buying artesania • catrina • crafts • folk art • handmade • Mexican • Michoacan • Ocumicho • traditional

Most often when I take the time to sit down to write about my business, it’s a rant or sad description of the latest calamity or indignity I’ve either witnessed or personally suffered. Some of you might know that I’ve been (slowly) writing a “memoir” with the working title “Why Importing Crafts from Mexico is Not for Wimps”. I also think that “Are you F**cking Kidding Me?” could work as a title also. But I just realized that I need to share good news too! In the summer of 2019, while the U.S. was continuing to be destroyed by a...

“How much does the artist get?”

August 20, 2018 • bargaining in Mexico • buying artesania • fair wage

A clerk at Trader Joe’s just asked me if the artisan who made my blouse was paid a “fair wage”. A couple of weeks ago someone on our Facebook page asked if our workers are paid fairly. Leaving aside for the moment the question of what exactly is a “fair” wage (is it the minimum wage in Mexico which is currently about $5 US per day?) and how many workers in the U.S. or other countries actually receive a fair wage (are teachers paid a fair wage? how about the cooks in the restaurant you patronize?) let’s address the issue...