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The artists who made this calenda of The Virgin of Guadalupe used a variety of materials including wood, bamboo shavings, dried flowers, cardboard, paint, and banana bark. |
  UtilitarianCeremonialRecreationalDecorative
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MATERIALS
he materials of folk art are as varied as Latin America's diverse environments. Wax, metal, flowers, straw, clay, seeds, wood, plaster, glass, leather, horn, bone, etc. are chiseled, molded, and stamped into thousands of different hues, shapes, and sizes. Logically, folk artists are most likely to use those materials which are nearby. Pottery production is dependent on a good, convenient source of clay. Wood carving is most likely to occur in an area near forests.
With improved modern transportation, materials are also trucked in from the outside. Folk artists are very resourceful. If parrot feathers disappear, artists make use of dyed chicken feathers. If natural flowers are not available, exquisite paper ones replace them. Plastic, rubber, acrylics, and hundreds of other non-traditional materials, many of them discarded and recycled items, are rapidly being incorporated by folk artists to produce satisfying results.
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