Buying Art in Miniature - Souvenirs of Travel

 Art In Miniature

Guinea Fowl - Harare, Zimbabwe. Silk screen. 3" x 3"

Woodcut of Zebras. Samburu, Kenya. 4" x 6"

"Souvenir: A token of remembrance; a memento". 

I buy souvenirs. I haul home stuff from all over the world.  

I love textiles and baskets in particular, but many types of handcrafts appeal to me and once home, they remind me of where we were and where I got the piece. Even after 25 years of traveling, I can’t resist the perfect warthog carved of serpentine with bone tusks from Zimbabwe, the wooden hippo and the intricately carved candlesticks from Kenya, the tightly woven black and tan basket, and the small flock of wire and bead guinea fowl from Namibia. The attraction remains, but our storage and display areas are dwindling. Even the drawer space for place mats and tablecloths is strained and bulging.

For me these objects are nigh unto irresistible and undoubtedly I won’t stop carrying that extra expandable bag for artifacts and other objects that interest me.

I have however discovered the perfect small, easily transportable souvenir that is highly evocative of place. They are usually created by hand, even if mass-produced by hand, they are small and at times can be exceedingly fine works of art—I speak of note cards. Sometimes they are of scenes of the city or countryside, of flowers, animals, people, or have striking indigenous designs. The artists use many techniques – watercolors on paper, on silk, etchings, block prints using wood or linoleum, collages, cut outs. They incorporate bits textiles or other natural products like dried flowers or leaves into the design. If they were larger they could easily command a higher price, but these little jewels, these small works of art are cheap. I often frame them myself when I get home and hang them on a wall of changing art.

In more formal markets they find a home with the postcards on the ubiquitous rotating display kiosk. On the street, there may just be stacks of them on an improvised table or on a blanket or mat.  Art museums everywhere, in fact many kinds of museums, and little gift shops in-out-of-the-way places are a good source of handmade cards.

In a craft market in Kuala Lumpur I came across four cards with original etchings in three colors; one of an Asian elephant, a leatherback turtle, an alligator and a crocodile. 

Leatherback Turtle -
Etching in 3 colors.
2.5" x 4"

Crocodile -
Etching in 3 colors.
2.5" x 4"

In this instance each was signed and even numbered. 

On the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), vendors were selling cards painted or printed on silk, showing all different aspects of Vietnamese rural life. 

Vietnam Village Life
Printed on silk, handcolored. 5.25" x 2.5"

The oldest university in Hanoi provided superb little hand-colored etchings. 

Vietnam Pottery (above) & Bullock and Cart (Below)

   Hand-colored etchings.  Each 3" x 3.25"

The Craft Centre in Windhoek, Namibia had charming watercolors of desert aloes and dunes and desert. 

Namib Desert Scene, Namibia
Original Watercolor. 4.5" x 2"

Aloe - Namibia.
Original Watercolor. 4.5" x 2"

Mexican artists do extraordinary scenes on cards with colored straw—you have to see them to appreciate the painstaking effort and artistry. Both of these were purchased on the street in Tijuana, Mexico.

Mexican Village
Mosaic of dried straw. 4.5" x 2.75"

Agave, Prickly Pear Cactus, Saguaro.
Mosaic of dried straw. 4.5" x 2.75'

I am always on the prowl for cards. We'll see what I can find in Peru.