Antonio Alonso: Museum Quality Axolotl Emperor CeremonyThis is Antonio Alonso at his most ambitious and inventive, a full ceremonial tableau in which a court of axolotls gathers around their emperor in a sacred ritual. The piece is unlike anything else in his repertoire, a multi figure composition that reads almost like a small mythological theater set on a black wooden stage. At the center rises a turquoise tree of life, its trunk and curling branches painted in shades of teal and aqua, scattered with

symbolizing renewal and serving as a messenger between the living and the dead

woodgrain-like lines that ripple across the body

Cristo Escamilla's colibrí is caught at the exact moment of hover

The beautiful embroidery in black and orange is made by hand embroidery by artisans in the town of Tenango in Puebla

The tail is finished with matching grecas

The painting and coloring are superb

the traditional altar that Mexican families build each year to welcome their departed back home for Día de Muertos

swirling emerald-green designs create a sense of movement

one of Oaxaca's most celebrated painters and a master of the floral style that has inspired generations of woodcarving artists in San Martín Tilcajete

There is a quiet alertness in the eyes

Simply gorgeous

It has little sugar skulls