Osberto Jerez Molina -- Bluefields Artist in Masaya

Everyone visiting Nicaragua for the first time goes to the Artisans Market in Masaya. Only 30 miles south of Managua, Masaya has long been the arts and culture capital of Nicaragua. The Artisans Market is located in the Mercado Viejo, built originally in 1891, destroyed by fires in 1966 and 1978. In 1997, the structure was made into the Mercado Nacional de Artesnias. Small shops abound, selling everything Nicaraguan, from hammocks and leather goods, to pottery and soapstone sculptures. There is one kiosk that specializes in primitivist paintings from Solentiname, but beware, the prices are high and usually non-negotiable. Save your money for a trip to the Solentiname Archipelago where you can purchase directly from the artists at a fair price but still a significant savings.

One of the artists in the Mercado is Osberto Jerez Molina, an interesting fellow from Bluefields on the Eastern coast of Nicaragua. Osberto, who wears his hair in dreadlocks, is not only a painter in his own right, but the proprietor of a shop in the Mercado and the owner of a small hotel in Masaya, El Costena. In his early 40's, Osberto has been in Masaya for 21 years, taking advantage of the opportunities and growing economy in Masaya.





As a painter, Osberto has been profiled by a television station in Spain, and has sold to tourists the world over. His paintings are characteristically bright and colorful, reflecting the Caribbean style of his youth. He paints many subjects, often portraying colonial subjects. His talent is completely self-taught; he recounted to me that he started very young, and was always looking for subjects to paint.

Another interesting aspect of his art career is his strong support for local wood carvers, specifically fabricators of trunks from guanacaste, cedro real and other hardwoods, that are carved with landscape scenes on four sides. Osberto sells these trunks in various stages of finishing -- from the raw wood to polished and shined, to brightly painted. There are numerous sources of these trunks in Monimbo, a neighborhood of Masaya, almost without exception family workshops where multiple generations of artists work on trunks and other functional and decorative wood products.

While the workmanship of the trunks varies, it is definitely worth a trip -- visit with Osberto and tell him Vera of NicaArt sent you!