About the artists

Laila Contreras, Jewelry, Mexico City - Born and raised in Mexico City, Laila learned to work with silver as a child playing in her father's workshop. Daughter of a well-known silver-smith, Laila now continues the Contreras tradition of hand stamped silver jewelry, using traditional Mexican designs to create elegant, timeless pieces. 

Maria Jose Rión, Jewelry, Mexico City - Maria Jose Rión began her career as a sculpture artist working and studying in cities such as Barcelona, New York and Vancouver. After returning to her home, Mexico City, Maria discovered traditional Mayan ceramic techniques and began to incorporate them in her art. Today, Maria is dedicated to preserving the art of Mayan ceramics by using only natural dies, a traditional kiln and hand burnishing each piece of clay with a quartz stone. In turn, Maria has created a line of unique jewelry, under the trade name Naab, which combines traditional artisan techniques with innovative style and contemporary design.

ColorIndio, Textiles, Mexico City & Chiapas –Textile designers Paulina Parlange and Libia Moreno came together as Colorindio to work with artisan communities around Mexico who for generations have dedicated their lively hoods to textiles production. Colorindio is dedicated to assisting primarily Mayan indigenous communities design and commercialize their textiles, while helping to maintain and preserve traditional weaving techniques and respecting the generations of design and skill that have formed each artisan.

Lilia Hernandez, Jewelry & Textiles, Oaxaca – Born into a community of weavers, Lilia began to dedicate her life to her mother and grandmother’s weaving tradition at the age of 12. As she grew older and developed her artisan skill, she also began to learn filigree, a jewelry technique that was introduced into Mexican culture by the Spaniards and dates as far back as ancient Egypt. Today, Lilia supports her family with both her weavings and jewelry.

Proteak, Nayarit –In an effort to combat rapid deforestation in Mexico, Proteak opened its doors in 2000 by planting its first teak trees on reclaimed ranch lands in the state of Nayarit. Today, this certified sustainable teak forest is growing beautifully and as the trees grow taller there is a need for thinning, which has lead to the creation of our cutting boards. Unfortunately, Mexico has lost over 80% of it's forests due to deforestation and we, at Mariza & Company, are excited to be supporting Proteak and their environmental initiative.

Abraham Garcia Nogales, Oaxaca - Originally from Miahuatlan de Porfirio Díaz,a small villiage in the mountains of Oaxaca, Abraham moved to Oaxaca City in the 1930's. As the fifth of eleven children, Abraham started working with his father as a leathersmith at the age of 6. His art is to create beautiful accessories by hand, using leather as his medium. 

To learn more about the artists, their lives, and their art, please visit our blog.