Jacobo & María Ángeles

Free tour was really interesting. Super cool to see the artisans at work and the process to make these insane sculptures!

Very mixed feelings. The artworks are beautiful and the free tour was really great. But this business sadly feels like it's taking the big capitalist venture road. They started in 1994 with traditional wood carving and painting, and now also offer jewelry, ceramics, paintings, fashion, mescal, galleries and even... a Michelin rated restaurant. On the other hand, they have a small part of their shop with artworks done by people of the town, which is great to generate income for them. Being such a big business brings a lot of tourists to the town which could boost its economy, unless Jacobo & Maria Ángeles aim at creating a whole ecosystem – like having an own restaurant, or perhaps an own hotel in the future. You can find similar artworks painted with super highly detailed zapotec patterns in nearby shops and especially in Arrazola – hometown of the artist Manuel Jiménez who pioneered the painted wooden figures (alebrijes) in Oaxaca area – and at a much better price. I can highly recommend to visit the Jiménez museum and workshop in Arrazola, where you can also get a free tour, see a video documentary of his work in the 70's and meet his son Angélico who takes care of the continuation of the tradition. They also have absolutely amazing alebrijes for sale. In short: if you are an art buyer, this place is for you. If you are interested in traditional crafts and maybe want to buy some, don't miss the chance to visit smaller workshops in the area and the Jiménez museum/shop.

To see the artists at work and the amazing detail, wow. What an amazing experience and our guide Lilli was incredible! Make sure that ask for her if she is available.

What an unexpectedly wonderful experience! We didn’t realize we would get a free tour of the workshop and then, for it be so informative and interesting! We had such a great time seeing and learning about all the creations. We would absolutely recommend people to come and visit. Eric was a wonderful and patient tour guide with all my questions. What a magical experience! ♥️

An amazing workshop! We had a most excellent guide, Luis, who took us through the each work station, demonstrated the natural paint pigments, and explained their commitment to training the next generation of artisans.

We went on a very fascinating free tour here and found it very interesting. I enjoyed learning about how the different coloured paints are made, how the carving is done, and how the sanding and painting is done, and to see it all happening. At the end, we viewed the gallery with a whole bunch of completed works. The price points were quite significant here which seemed to match the quality, though I’m not sure how the prices compare to other workshops/stores selling similar works. Overall, I really enjoyed the afternoon trip out to go and visit this workshop.

My two friends were skeptical about this alebrijes experience but they ended up loving the tour (highly educational) and gallery. The craftsmanship is exquisite and it’s easy to see why this shop is making a name for itself internationally. Yes the pieces are expensive but not unreasonable- you can find larger pieces that are almost as intricate/good for half the price at smaller family run shops in town. We ended up getting a piece from Jacobo and Maria plus a few pieces in town. A great experience over all.

Beautiful art and FANTASTIC hospitality! This was one of the best things we did in the Oaxaca area. After getting advice from a local guide, we went to the bus departure station for the automorses to Ocotlan on the south end of the Centro and asked the driver to drop us off at the entrance to San Martín Tilcajete. We got Tuktuks from the entrance and asked those drivers to take us to the best place and they elected here…so glad they did. This is a beautiful artists’ compound with guides on site and Eric was our guide. He was phenomenal and explained to us the natural and spiritual process of making colors, carving, and painting. He the showed us the different workshops where these steps happen and introduced us to on-site artists who were in these steps. He also took us on an informative tour to the jewelry. He also let us know what our Zapotec protector and afterlife guides were so we could feel a personal connection to certain alibrijes. He spoke perfect English and gave us a shot of mezcal as well. When in in the final galleries, he was always available but let us shop for some beautiful and fairly priced pieces without hovering—-A rare approach that our group appreciated and allowed us to purchase in peace. The most impressive part of the trip was at the end when we were ready to leave. Since we went on a whim by taking a bus and tuktuks and didn’t book a tour in advance, Eric was kind enough to return during a break to give us advice and we then met the owner of this beautiful space and the kindness continued to unfold. We were unsure how to get back since there weren’t Tuktuks there and we were far from the highway. We were also uncertain that we might not have a clear plan to get back to Oaxaca. Without hesitation, the owner got a friendly staff member to take us back to the entrance and wait with us until a colectivo stopped to pick us up so we didn’t have to wait alone. His staff even told the driver of the colectivo what to do and exactly where to drop us off. I knew the art would be beautiful but I was most impressed by the kindness and hospitality. If you decide to take a chance on an adventure, don’t worry about running into a snafu as Eric, the owner, and all the staff will take care of you!

Wonderful workshop. I saw many alebrijes throughout Oaxaca and the quality here is superior. The prices are also much higher. I came here as part of a tour (Ruta de las artesanías, booked via https://oaxacatours.mx). The tour included this town (San Martin Tilcajete) as well as San Antonino, Santo Tomás Jalieza, Ocotlán and Santa Catarina Minas. The alebrijes tour was one of the highlights. They took us through the different steps: cutting the wood, dyeing it, and painting it. They let us smell the pieces of wood (and the incense produced from it), showed us how the natural dyes are mixed, walked us past artisans cutting and painting the pieces. Our guide was excellent and we were offered fresh juice and tamarind ice cream along the way. The galleries had some stunning works on display. Incredible creativity and gorgeous execution. The final gift shop had some wonderful pieces (a lot of variety) and I purchased a lovely cat that I'm very happy with. I saw imitations at other locations thereafter but they weren't even close in quality (the lines were crooked, the eyes too far apart, less detail, etc.) I'm very happy that I bought my alebrije here. That being said, I wanted a larger piece to commemorate my visit and quality was important to me. I do encourage you to purchase smaller souvenirs elsewhere and support other artisans as there are a lot of shops selling these toys in the town (and for less). Don't be afraid to ask your tour guide/driver to stop at other shops to pick up cheaper souvenirs (which is what we did). Obviously you can come here without being part of a tour. I do recommend the artisan tour however as it was really affordable (450 MXN for adults or about 22 USD). The bus was extremely comfortable and private for our group of 3 adults and 2 kids. They picked us up and dropped us off at our AirBnB. The guide was really knowledgeable and spoke great English. The other stops included a market with fabric weaving, an embroidery shop, a busy market in Ocotlán (as well as a stunning church), a stop for lunch, and ancestral mezcal tasting in Santa Catarina Minas (this was the other highlight).

I ordered a carving in June of 2017. It was to be 18 to 20 inches high and was going to take one year. They charged me $1400.00us It arrived and was 8 inches high! I looked on their website and found a similar carving larger than what I ordered for nearly the same price! I contacted them and they deny my order was supposed to be larger. My husband and I stood right there and showed the size we wanted from a shelf of samples. I know what we ordered. I feel totally ripped off. If you choose to do business with these people I would strongly urge you to take a video of the transaction. Signed, Ripped-Off and Angry