Pefi-Me Please

A few months ago (with the help of Panama-Jen), the wife found a local artist named Cecilia Facio de Figueres (nicknamed Pefi). She bought some pottery (see above) but more importantly she came home raving about her new find. She could not stop talking about how this little old lady up in the hills was so interesting and friendly. Apparently Pefi took Jen through her house showing her all her artwork and just talked and talked. She even has been "found" by Starbucks. Apparently, Starbucks started selling a series of mugs in the US based on her design. They sold out of them so fast...and Pefi could not keep up...so Starbucks bought the design and started making the knock-offs in China...imagine that! So now you need to be careful and make sure you have an original Pefi. How can you know for sure? Like Fiestaware all you have to do is look at the bottom. Originals will say Costa Rica and the knockoffs will not. Also, if you look at the design on the bottom you can tell which ones were really painted by Pefi and which ones were painted by her assistants. Pefi's trademark is the yellow butterfly (left) and her assistants all have their own marks...as you can see on the right. They sell come on the internet...you can see her stuff over here. Good news CC and Mike, she even makes egg cups! :-)

Anyway, Jen was really excited to take me up to the hide-away art studio so we decided to head up last week. The trip wasn't that long...only about 30 mins but it ended with a 10 min drive up the side of a hill on an unmarked road. When we got to the top the place was amazing. It had a real Costa Rican feel and an awesome view of the valley below. There was artwork and painted pottery everywhere. Pefi took us on a tour of her home and offered me the same peek into her life. She explained many of her paintings as we perused through her life. Jen asked her if she got sad when she sold her paintings. Pefi said that she "cried for 15 days" when she sold her first ;-). Now she can smile a little more as we ended up buying a piece of artwork from Cecilia (see below). I won't mention the price...because it is art...and what is most important is that both Jen and I love it. The neat feature of the piece is that it is reversible. You can swap the two pieces (L<>R) and the centers will still match...check it out.... Anyway, I have to agree...it was a wonderful experience. Pefi was even willing to hand touch-up the painting since there was a small chip on the edge. Luckily, I had the cellphone camera and was quick enough to catch her in the act. Now there is no denying that she painted ours!