Welcome to the blog of Catarino Carrillo, master woodcarver from Oaxaca, Mexico!

My name is Catarino Carrillo Morales and I'm a woodcarver from the town of Arrazola in Oaxaca, Mexico.  I've have been making woodcarvings for 25 years and have created this blog to educate people about the woodcarving craft as well as to showcase some of my own work.  I will be updating it frequently with new information about designs and other information of interest to potential visitors to Oaxaca. 

Below I outline the basic process for making a woodcarving:

A young copal tree waiting to be planted

Catarino Carrillo carving

First you must have copal, a native wood, which is used under professional supervision forest to avoid environmental damage (see my next blog post for a learn more about local conservation efforts).  Most artisans now only use the branches in order to avoid cutting the entire tree.

 

Now what follows is the carving of the wood to shape the figures, this initially with a machete and then with the knife to give details.

Leg are attached to a giraffe

There are two ways to make a piece.  In the first, separate body parts, such as legs, are attached to the main body with glue and nails.  This method is preferable for pieces have a large number or extremely delicate appendages.  In the second way, a single piece of wood is carved into a finished figure.  

Assembled figures drying before they are painted

This unpainted fox is an example of a piece carved from a single piece of wood

 Once carved, figures are left to dry naturally in the sun.  After several days (depending on the dampness of the wood), Leticia Argaon (Catarino's wife), carefully sands them in preparation for painting.

Catarino Carrillo painting the fox.  All of the painting is done freehand, resulting in one-of-a-kind finished pieces.

Leticia Aragon sanding a woodcarving