Country Artists

Past all of the traffic of Asuncion and San Lorenzo, through the town of Ita, take a left turn onto a country road. In the middle of, well, pretty much nowhere, we pulled over in front of a house. The sign outside read Arte en Barro. We had arrived at the workshop and home of a mother daughter pair of sculptors, Juana Martha Rodas and Julia Isidrez. Here they work with just the most basic of tools – clay, their hands and a simple firing oven – to produce pieces of artwork which have been recognized internationally. They each have their own unique style (I must admit to being personally attracted to the work of the daughter, Julia Isidrez) really the first arts I’ve seen in Paraguay that I can truly say that I like. This trip was the result of admiring some of the ceramics in my principal’s office and asking repeatedly if we could take a trip out to visit the artist. I finally hit upon a day when his wife was visiting and a plan to go take us out was soon in place. An hour drive took us to this small house where we were warmly welcomed by Julia and apologetically informed that Juana was not feel well today (we did get to meet her, a small old woman with sparkles in her eyes, before we left). We were encouraged to wander through the house, picking up and touching anything we wanted. Julia proudly unveiled a few wet pieces that she was working on, informing us that some of them were an order placed by the French Ambassador’s wife. Out back we found an overhang which housed a display of their work. Among the different types of work I, of course, fell in love with a few. After much debate and effort to discern which were my truly favorite I picked out three pieces – a large bowling ball sized piece which makes me giggle each time I look at it, a bowl with two dinosaur heads as handles and a smaller round animal. I realized that I preferred a definite style of their work, but was thrilled to find that I did love it! I had no idea of how much I might spend on these three pieces and in the end walked away feeling like not only did I end up with some artwork I love but I got an amazing deal on it (as I spent less than $20 total). What a worthwhile afternoon out it turned out to be!