Jaguar hand-carved in Colombia"Palo de Sangre" is the type of red-colored wood used
I used to sell this type of wood carving in my Tapir and Friends online store; I imported them with the help of Sergio Sandoval of Bogota. I hope to do so again, but there are a few cost issues to overcome. The carvings themselves are not very expensive for their beauty and uniqueness, but (1) they are often damaged when being shipped through U.S. Customs. In each small shipment, a few are drilled, sometimes in the visible parts, to be sure there are no drugs inside, and they're "re-packed" in such a way that legs and tails are often broken when I get them. Another thing (2) is that each piece is unique, and I'm still looking for a cost-effective way to make them available to customers so that each piece can be seen and yet the prices aren't jacked sky-high because the process is labor-intensive. I love this native South American art, and hopefully will find a way to overcome the issues this year or next. I've heard that FedEx or UPS shipping may be safer through Customs than DHL, so I'll have to experiment.
You can read more about Palo de Sangre here, and you can see some of the carved pieces in this Picasa Web Album. I don't have a compliled album of all of the pieces that have come through here at this time, but I'll add it to my project list.
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