Crafting In The Caribbean: Handmade Highlights

One of the things I love about traveling to new places is experiencing the art and culture of the area. The Caribbean has some beautiful, vibrant artwork and there are so many talented local artisans selling their handmade wares. It's amazing to see the different resources, tools, and techniques used to create these pieces and to learn more about common themes and artistic styles in their culture. I hope to share a few of the fascinating things I learned here!

Tagua Nut Carvings

The nut that comes from the Tagua palm tree is often referred to as "vegetable ivory" or "ivory nut" because of its unique appearance once dried and hardened. After it has been processed, the nut not only matches elephant ivory in color, but also in density. Many hope this special nut might create a more sustainable future as it becomes a common substitute for elephant tusks and even plastics. 

Tagua palm trees grow in tropical rain forests, so there was a fair amount of Tagua nut carvings and jewelry pieces throughout the Caribbean. The Tagua nut is easy to carve, cut, slice, and dye, which makes it a versatile material to work with and provides for a plethora of creative outcomes. 

I didn't think to try to get pictures of these beautiful carvings while I was there, but was fortunate enough to find some Etsy sellers who granted permission to share pictures of their Tagua nut pieces. While not from the Caribbean, these look just like what we saw there!

Courtesy of Artisan Variety (via Etsy)

Courtesy of Artisan Variety (via Etsy)

Courtesy of Chichester Inc. (via Etsy)

Courtesy of Chichester Inc. (via Etsy)

Leather Coin Purses

I saw so many of these coin purses hanging in vendor stalls and they always caught my eye because of the bright colors and cute designs! At this point, it did occur to me to start taking pictures while shopping, but I felt kind of awkward snapping photos of something I wasn't going to buy. I certainly wanted to, but I couldn't buy everything! So again, I was able to find another talented Etsy creator gracious enough to allow me to share their nearly identical purses and wallets.

These might not be as unique to the Caribbean -- I know leatherworking is common in a variety of cultures and have seen similar items in some of my other travels -- but I still wanted to share since they were a very popular item among the local sellers... and I just found them so adorable! 

Despite being rather small, it sounds like a lot of work goes into these. Leatherworkers must measure and cut their pieces, saddle-stitch them to create a durable hold, carefully carve design details, and paint the leather with dyes to achieve the vibrant colors you see below.

Courtesy of Spring and Young (via Etsy)

Courtesy of Spring and Young (via Etsy)

Courtesy of Spring and Young (via Etsy)

Courtesy of Spring and Young (via Etsy)

Courtesy of Spring and Young (via Etsy)

Hand-carved Wooden Animals

The many wooden animals and figurines were impressive to me because of personal experience with my husband's failed whittling attempts. I had bought him some wood carving/whittling tools for Christmas thinking it might be a fun hobby for him to learn. He has struggled to make much headway... 

All of the wooden figurines we saw were carved with a lot of personality and artistic flare, and many were painted with bright colors capturing cultural styles and themes -- like the elephant with the Rastafari highlights. The coconut shell sea turtle pictured below was one of our souvenir purchases. We got it at our favorite stop -- St. John, Antigua. I loved the way the artist cleverly utilized a common island material to add a unique, tropical touch.  

Captured in a local vendor's stall in Antigua

Purchased from a shop in St. John, Antigua

I wish we had no limit to the amount of money we could spend or the amount of space available to bring back souvenirs, because I would have loved to been able to support all of these local artisans, and to continue to admire their handiwork. But I'm grateful I was able to experience it all firsthand and learn more about the unique art and culture of the Caribbean! 

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