Craftmen’s Route

As soon as we got to Villa Traful, we made contact with a project started by 5th year local high school students. The Craftsmen’s Route aims at fostering crafted activities through tours around workshops, where visitors can witness the techniques and products.

Our first stop was at Erica Painepe’s house. She welcomed us while she watched over her young kids. Of Mapuche origin, her surname means “blue sky volcano”.

With simplicity and proud of her own venture, she told us that she had improved her drawing and painting by attending local workshops. She works with hard wood as radal and cypress and creates pretty useful tools for daily life with jig saws, woodworking chisels and paints.

Dishes, boxes and spoons were some of the pieces carved or painted by her hands.

We also saw items woven in the loom, a technique she learned from her mother and aunts when she was just a child. Erica is proud to keep the family traditions and of having found a task she can make a living with and keep her home.


Music and liqueurs

When we visited Julia Irene and Victor Lopez at the stall where they sell liqueurs, we were very interested in knowing about their life project. She is a singer and has a degree in music from a school in the City of La Plata and this art accompanied her at the time they decided to settle down in Patagonia.

Julia Irene works as a music teacher in local schools and has participated in festivals and peñas all throughout the Province of Neuquén.

At first, they only prepared rose hip liqueur with a recipe they got from a friend. Later on, they incorporated new flavors but without neglecting their jobs.

Tests of alcohol content and additional cooking lessons led this couple to improve themselves and produce liqueurs of higher quality. Victor is the most devoted to this special art and his home is the place for his creations.

In summer, it is time to get berries, soak them and sell the products manufactured the previous year. In winter, they produce the usual liqueurs and create new flavors which are stored for their fermentation.

They both agree that prior tasting is the key to a successful sale. As the music shows continued, it was a good opportunity to print the phrase Música y Licores (Music and Liqueurs) on the labels of the great variety of beverages they offer.

Jorge Virasoro is another craftsman living in this area and we visited his house-workshop.


Deer without antler

We had to travel up to Cuyín Manzano in order to find Dagoberto Riquelme. Several families live there on rural tasks. We found his home on the riverbank and had a chat with him.

Born at this spot, he learned how to carve and the art of knives hafting when he was a child. His elders would practice this craft with the material found lying in the countryside. His antler works are highly praised due to his outstanding attention to detail.

Little spoons, knives, door knobs and many other items for daily use were on display at his workshop. Excellent carving combined with good taste and care are the essence of this craft.

A very skillful man, he is also a blacksmith of his own crafts and sometimes he uses the anvil to manufacture part of his usual works of art. Through his sayings, we learned something else about his career.

We saw very few machines at his workshop. He does most of his work by hand. Patience and time contribute to this fine product.


Woven items, liqueurs and jams to keep us entertained

During this tour we also met Teresa Chamorro. Born there, she teaches how to weave on the Mapuche loom as a complement of her farm activities. While we were chatting, she pulled several woolen coats, sweaters and stockings from an old chest. Her skillful hands make these items every season.

Everything was handspun with natural wool or yarns dyed with extracts of plants and finished off with antler buttons. Almost as if it had been a game, she learned to weave and to spin from her mother when she was just an infant.

She is truly proud to keep the family traditions. She also showed us cushions, sashes and blankets created by her huge Mapuche loom. She made a nice comment: “the Mapuches use red hues to catch good luck and energy”.

Teresa took part in the Sweater Festival in Bariloche and the Market of Production and Crafts in Neuquén and has been granted several awards for her woven items. Besides weaving, she offers jams she herself makes with cherries, redcurrant and sarsaparilla. The entire process, from growing the fruit to bottling the jam is made by her hands.

We bade farewell to each of these craftsmen admiring their satisfaction to love what they do for a living and to feel so comfortable in the place where they live.

Contacts:

At Villa Traful

Licores Julia Irene
Te: 54 2944 479119 / 2944 15 33 1054
E-mail: juliairenehop@hotmail.com

Erica Painepe
El Barrio


At Cuyín Manzano:

Dagoberto Riquelme
Te: 54 2944 15622233

Teresa Chamorro
Te: 54 2944 15 669113
E-mail: info@cuyinmanzano.com