The “Guatemala Series” Children’s Puzzles
A part of our mission at Vista Tranquila is to recognize the incredible ethnic diversity and rich cultural traditions of Guatemala. We have a strong commitment to promoting local artists and to developing products using local providers, whenever possible. In July of this year, we launched an open art competition for Guatemalan artists to submit their work. All of the artists were given the same instructions: to create a work of art showing a Guatemalan boy and a girl with one of their grandparents in a typical Guatemalan market scene. We asked them to include fruits, vegetables, flowers, and at least one “street dog”. We did not put any restrictions on the art mediums. We invited artists to submit computerized graphic designs, water colors, oils, colored pencils, crayons, pastels, etc., in color or in black and white. At the time of the competition, we were seeking to expand our network of artists and to stimulate interests in our project. We didn’t yet know that there would be a “Guatemala Market Series” of puzzles.
To our delight, we received many, many submissions from artists all over the country. Despite having the same instructions, the variety of artistic interpretations was impressive. We invited a few of the artists to meet with us to discuss their work, and not surprisingly, there were so many interesting stories to hear and tell! Now that we had identified so many talented Guatemalan artists, we thought about what we could we do to help showcase their work. And that is how we came to the decision to create a children’s puzzle series. We soon learned that there’s a lot that goes into designing a puzzle! First, the only puzzle cutting die in Guatemala is limited to only a dozen pieces. We wanted to create puzzles that were a little more challenging so that children and their parents could share in the fun! The graphics had to be produced in high resolution and we had to send the artwork back to the artist for a few edits in order to ensure vivid colors and sharp contrast lines. Finally, the quality of the puzzle pieces is very important. We insisted on using a high-quality backing for the puzzle and an attractive box in which to store them. Check out our puzzles!
This first printing of the Guatemala Series children’s puzzles includes four art works. Each artist chose to focus on a different part of the country including market day scenes from Livingston, Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Nahualá, and Totonicapán. We’ve written separate blog entries for each one so you can get to know the artist better!
