Large macrame angel above Sara's mantel.
My friend Sara invited our Tuesday Spanish group to her home for lunch--and to see her huge collection of angels and creches. She--with the help of her family and friends--has been collecting seriously for 39 years. She still has her first two angels that were given to her when she was around 9 years old.
I have seen the angels and nativity scenes that appear in stores and houses around Christmas time every year but I have never seen such artistry and diversity together in one place. She has traditional angels and nail-haired metal modern angels; angels made from charred wood from the Hayman fire of a few years ago which took lives and destroyed much property, forest land and habitat. One angel is made totally of Mississippi mud. A new nativity scene, brought to her this Christmas from Africa by her son, is totally carved from one piece of ebony wood. She has angels and nativities from many countries, carved and shaped in both classic and folkloric styles.
In a corner of her dining room year round sits her "angel" tree with just a few small ornament-sized nativities mixed in.
When asked how large her collection is, she says, " I have around 70 creches but I have no time to count the angels." We estimated from just the ones we saw on the main floor that it is surely in the hundreds.
We began speaking Spanish but after exclaiming "Muchos Angeles!" several times and asking how one says Nativity Scene in Spanish, we retreated to English and our many questions about her most impressive collection.
A more-detailed view of the angel tree.
One of several cases protecting the most fragile of the creches.
Sorry the quality of the photo but it was hard to maneuver with furniture and window reflection on the glass. Hopefully you can get the general idea. Add a delicious lunch prepared by Sara to the lovely art and in total it was a most enjoyable day.
Thank you Sara!
Posted by: Frances | January 20, 2007 at 01:50 PM
Posted by: Fran aka Redondowriter | January 19, 2007 at 11:39 PM