Sharon Candelario    * Chimayo Art- Black Etched Tinwork *                                                       

In the sacred village of Chimayo New Mexico, where the famous shrine of El Santuario De Chimayo is located is the home of Sharon Candelario.  Chimayo is a small village visited by people from all parts of the world, for its miraculas shrines, famous red chile, and the arts of weaving, tin work, and wood carvings.  Sharon was reared in the Plaza of El Potrero, the heart of Chimayo.  The family owns the Historic Medina Gallery-Cafe & Chile Shop, therefore Sharon has spent most of her life sharing with visitors the traditions of Chimayo.

Her love for art has strongly been influenced by her two older brothers, and a long family history of artisians.  Although Sharon spent some years living out of Chimayo, where she married, began a family, and recieved her Masters Degree in Social Work.

She now finds herself following her Heart's Desires. The mother of three children, Julianna 10 years old, Monique 6 years, and Adam Jr, 4 years old, Sharon has focused her life around staying home with her children, but has become a full time artist. She was first introduced to Black Etched Tin, by her brother Charles Medina, a tinsmith himself.  The family has been practicing various art mediums for generations.

Black Etched Tin is like traditional tin work, in the use of canning tin and the punch work with house hold tools, but unique in that the tin is Blackened and then etched with a nail, a generational family technique.  As she describes, " Its traditional tin work with an edge, therefore contemporary." Black Etched Tin is Sharon's Trademark.

    "Black Etched Tin Is Jewlery For Your Home."