Twenty-five years visiting the family of artists
Last Sunday we visited the Navarro family in their home. As a family of generational artisans where craft runs through their veins, they were so kind to welcome me and two guests from a private tour and jump right into the weaving demonstration.
Mariana weaving design that represents the feet of a dancer
Mariana, the mother of Inés, Crispina and Gerardo welcomed us with a warm hug and immediately tied her backstrap to show our guests how they weave. My brother Jesse and my cousin Sofia also came along with us, and it was just such an enjoyable morning admiring their craft and before we were about to leave, Inés asked us if we would like to drink tejate, also known as the beverage of the gods.
Inés serving us tejate
The Navarros have been close to my mom since the late 90s. My mom was introduced to this wonderful family in the village of Santo Tomás Jalietza, where she became great friends with them and learned about their technique of backstrap weaving, passed down through generations. Today the craft is carried by these amazing sisters and their mother, Mariana, who continues to weave everyday at her age. Gerardo is an amazing artist that does very colorful paintings, as well as shirts, and wherever he can make his drawings on. He starts with a short poem that we writes down on his notebook and that poem becomes a painting, a drawing or even an engraving on their cement floor. Truly, a home full of artists.
Gerardo with his painting Amor Divino in process
Inés, Mariana and Gerardo
They are also phenomenal cooks. For the longest time, my mom did cooking classes in their home. I made it my mission during this visit to ask, how did it all the cooking started. My mother would help them collect elotes from their milpa, and a few gathered ingredients got cooked into a dish called Espesado de Sopa de Guías. Back in 2017, when I was still living in the U.S., my good friend Jaime González came down to Oaxaca and we both wanted to learn to make tlayudas. The Navarros welcomed us, together with my mom, and took us to the back of their home to make those massive 17-inch tortillas. Half your arm is covered in masa and you're delicately placing it on the comal, cooking it more on one side than the other. Tlayudas are extremely hard to make, and I think that day I succeeded. I can ask Jaime what he thinks about that.
Last year was extremely hard for their family and for mine. I lost my mom, and the Navarros lost one of their sisters, Margarita, the amazing woman who taught me how to make tlayudas. Life continues and we both remember our loved ones and honor them through our actions every day. Visiting the Navarros is like stepping into my second family on the other side of the valley. I'm always welcomed with warmth, big smiles and big laughs. They weave seven days a week, eight plus hours a day, with more than 120 patterns memorized and awards won across Oaxaca and Mexico. All the members of this family are praised for their work and every time I take guests they are stunned with their craft. The time it takes to finish a piece and the level of complexity that is weaving solely by hand, truly admirable.
Myself making tlayudas on the comal in 2017
Chef Jaime and Margarita
I'm grateful to share this relationship with you. The Navarros are a must stop on every tour we run in Oaxaca, also during Dia de Muertos. If you'd like to meet them, our Discover Oaxaca tour in October is taking its final sign-ups, and our 2027 dates are now open and the Chef's Intensive for winter and summer are also open. Reply to this email and we'll send you the details.
Un abrazo,
Kaelin
