Cuenca

We had a wonderful opportunity to be in Cuenca most of last week after being in Cotacachi for a little mini-vacation. A friend of mine is from Cuenca so we were given some good ol' Ecuadorian hospitality. The people here are so kind, humble and eager to help - we are very grateful for their wonderful congeniality.

I was in Cuenca to review a potential clients needs, but while there we were able to tour the countryside and the wonderful city. It is obvious why this city was the first World Heritage Trust Site in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuenca,_Ecuador) - it is beautiful, with Inca, Spanish and Canari ruins scattered around (pre-Incan civilization that existed around the same time as the Olmecs, or a little after http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmecs). Here is a picture of one such ruin that has all three civilizations building one on top of the other - and this is at an intersection right in town by one of the rivers!

We had heard of a wonderful artist named Eduardo Vega before we arrived and so we were hoping to make it to one of his studios while in Cuenca. While being taken on a quick tour of the city after being picked up from the airport we were delighted to find out that our host was good friends with Eduardo. Juan took us to his studio up on the hill overlooking the city and we were able to meet Eduardo right then and there! He currently doesn't export any of his wonderful ceramics to the USA so we are pleased to become his sole distributor to the USA!

Here are some samples of his wonderful works of art - both functional as well as beautiful; made of the finest ceramics...

There are some beautiful designs and artwork that you just don't see anywhere else, especially of this quality - he's one of the best known artists in all of Ecuador. His work is exported to Spain, Italy and Australia - to name a few - but not to the US...yet!

Here is an entire dish set of custom ceramic 'art' by E.Vega that is just gorgeous! When we get our house built down here we'll be buying a set like this for ourselves!

I will post more pictures of other artwork and items from Eduardo Vega on the Orange Mandolin website when we get ready to launch - but wanted to give you some idea of what they look like now.

We were also able to go into the countryside to the south of Cuenca to see Juan's country hacienda. It was a beautiful day, albeit cold and misty - but it reminded us of Scotland. Lush and green with lots of streams and lakes surrounded by mountains on all sides - just a wonderful place to raise some horses and sit by the fire enjoying some hot chocolate and cafe con leche!

Lots of cows, horses, llamas and wonderful scenery everywhere you look.

We truly enjoyed our trip and I am looking forward to heading back up there this weekend to review the proposal with the prospective client.

San Antonio (Ecuador)

Sorry it's been awhile since the last post - we were in Cuenca for the past week and didn't have internet very often at where we were staying (a friends house). So let me get you caught up as best I can...might take a few posts...but we're back in Vilcabamba so I have a (little) bit more time and stable connection.

While we stayed in Cotacachi we visited some of the surrounding towns (Ibarra, San Antonio, etc.) and what we've found is that basically every little village has its own speciality. From a specific dish prepared a certain way, to a certain specialized craftsmanship.

While going to Ibarra we passed through San Antonio, a very quaint little village at the base of a beautiful volcano...and they happen to specialize in wood carving and wood furniture. Amazingly intricate.

When we went into Ibarra we could see the snow-capped volcano in the distance - I'm not sure of the name...

We were amazed at the custom woodwork in San Antonio, and pretty cheap considering how large and well done they are. In almost every case the actual artist is the owner of the shop

and right there to greet you. A few of them even invited us back to their workshop just behind the door in the back of the store to show us some 'work in progress' items.

The man that made this horse head spends three months on some of the intricate designs - very detailed and ornate.

There are some large works of art as well - here's one that is still a work in progress...you can see the artist standing next to it, which gives you an idea of the dimension this piece has - it's made out of a single tree trunk!

Here are some other beautiful pieces of wood we saw...it's all

wood with some wonderful painted flowers highlighted.

They take custom orders, doing furniture, wood trunks, mirrors, you name it - and very reasonably priced.

Here's a wonderful reproduction of "David" in all wood.

Tomorrow I'll update you on the many things we saw when we visited Cuenca - like wonderful ceramics, Incan ruins (right in the city), Spanish ruins - many still in use - and some great architecture.

Ciao for now!