Mariño, as everyone knows him, has been a craftsman all his life. Now 36 years old, he started weaving at six years of age and is the fourth generation in his family to continue the family tradition. As a child, he considered it a game and part of his every day work and was the pride of his neighborhood.

He lives in Xochimilco, Oaxaca where the cobblestone streets echo the unmistakable sound of the loom as the shuttle moves over the warp is easily identified and the tinmakers' chisels tap the metal.

Mariño is motivated by his great love for his work. He uses both a treadle-type as well as a backstrap loom (telar de pedal o chicote). He is heavily motivated by the work he continues for the generations of family before him and has won several awards for his efforts.

One of the looms he uses is called a treadle loom, which has a working end called the whip where a horn from a bull pulls the loom, which is made of wood and has been used for centuries despite the movement that exists today to use weaving machines as well as the the shortage of the necessary raw material, cotton.

Today Mariño works entirely with recycled cotton. With no other alternative to cotton, he supports environmental conservation. In the past, the dying processes polluted the aquifers by using dyes with alkaline in them.

Contact information:
Casa León
Bolaños Cacho #102
Berriode Xoxhimilco, Oaxaca
951 513 0194
artedetaler_casaleon @hotmail.com
www.oaxacan.com.mx

Or contact Marianne Carlson at (from the US) 01152 376 765 7485 or email marianne carlson@gmail.com.