Candlemaker

Oops! One more studio in Oaxaca I failed to include.

After the red pottery we went back across the valley to Teotitlan del Valle the village that specializes in woven wool rugs and bags. I had visited these studios on my last trip which are well worth the trip, so after visiting the new cultural center and artisan market I chose to visit a candle making studio. When we arrived an elderly woman was seated on the floor cutting disks of wax she had created and forming them into flowers.

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Bees wax of varying colors was melted over open fires. The woman then proceeded to show us the process of pouring cupfuls of molten wax over a wick. She would gather the wax from the pot on the fire, climb onto a wooden chair and pour the wax down, then let it cool while she went on to the next wick. It was hard to imagine how many times she climbed that chair to create candles, some of which are up to 5 inches in diameter!

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Away from her Smokey workshop was a showroom for sales that was very impressive. I purchased a couple of the white candles surrounded with wax flowers that were carefully wrapped in tissue paper and placed in boxes. They became our center piece for Christmas dinner.

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After seeing the process of candle pouring and flower making I marveled at her creations.
The cultural center had these candles displayed and we saw many similar pieces half burned in the local church.

I was not sure how candles would hold up in the humid summer heat of Playa Del Carmen. Tapers have always softened and bent. But when this candle’s central core melted down I attached another candle atop and the wax flowers have maintained their edges. Now it accompanies me every morning for my yoga practice.