Butterflies, Coconut Shells and Faceless Dolls

You might ask, what does all of those things have to do with the other?  One answer, Moca.  Moca is a smaller city just east of Santiago.  It is a very lush area of the country.  The area is known for a company called Arteco.  This company hand makes beautiful butterflies out of coconut shells.  We had the privilege of buying some of these items, which are of high quality.  They also make some of the jewelry out of macadamia nut shells (which are grown in the Jarabacoa area in the mountains).  Here are some pictures of the items she sells:

One of the artist that hand paints all of the items that are sold here

This is their version of the "faceless" dolls - the dolls are designed by a lady that didn't want to put faces on the dolls, since Dominicans represent the union of three races: native, European, and African - reason that the Dominicans do not have a defined physical characteristic - she did not want just one race to define the Dominican people

Some of the beautiful coconut shell butterflies that she sells - these sell for 150 pesos each - $3.94 US

Artist at work

The inside of an old converted bus that they use as their showroom

A man smoothing the rough edges of the macadamia nuts to make jewelry

Some more butterflies

In true missionary style - Teresa preaching - she has been talking with these people since they first started their business over 12 years ago

Their showroom