Tropical Art and Jewelry

Experience Costa Rica: Art, Crafts and Jewelry

Feel the Beach, Wear Cowrie Shell Jewelry, See Acrylic Paintings on Feathers, Shop for Wood Crafts, Visit Art Galleries, wear Cowrie Shell Jewelry

Costa Rica is a great Tropical Vacation destination. Visit beaches from both Atlantic and Pacific. Ride Horses in the volcanic mountains, swim in mountain waterfalls, visit Art galleries , buy lots of sea shell jewelry, see acrylic paintings on feathers.

If you visit Costa Rica, you will notice every where you go, there are venders selling jewelry made from sea shells, coconut wood, tagua palm nuts , oyster shells, volcanic stone, tourquois and corral. You will also notice many items made from hard tropical wood. This is a great country to buy neckaces, bracelets, and earings.

At Costa Rica you can immerse yourself in Tropical Living. This is Pura Vida

SensationalTropics gives you a taste of what you will find in Costa Rica. Explore fine art of the human figure jewelry and crafts from Costa Rica and Central America. I would love to hear from you. Please email me at harlan@sensationaltropics.com If you are a Tropical Artist, I would like to display your works here. Also visit my eBay store where items will be posted for sale. SensationalTropics eBay store.

Costa Rica and Central America are filled with artists painting with water colors, acrylic and oils. Some artists like Gilberto Ramirez is a very accomplished human figure artist. but the range of skills is very wide. Costa Rica is a great place to shop for art and jewelry.

One popular medium in Central America has been acrylic paint on feathers. This was very popular because the painting was on the colorful macaw feather and the designs were very tropical and included all the birds, animals and frogs of Costa Rica. You can still buy the painted macaw feathers in Costa Rican and the United States, but the feathers cannot be transported between countries due to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) See www.cites.org Costa Rica ratified June 30, 1965.

Now the painted feathers you see in Costa Rica are gathered from domisticated birds when they naturally drop their feathers. You still cannot bring the parrot and parakeet feathers out of Costa Rica. The same is true of jewelry made of sea turtle shells but you will not find turtle shell jewelry in the markets.

This site features the cowrie shell macrame jewelry of Meybol as well as the art of Jeannette Ramirez and Saray Ramirez (my wife). I try to structure this site with lots of pictures and the opportunity to purchase on the Sensational Tropics eBay page.

The best place to shop is in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a great vacation spot for people in the US because the time zone is the same as the US, Air fare is reasonable, The country is modern, you get both atlantic and pacific ocean, beaches and mountain within a short drive of eachother, and you choice of hot in the valleys or cold in the mountains. Visit volcanoes, beaches and the forest all in the same day.. If you are in San Jose Costa Rica you will want to stop at the Artist and Painter's Market

Most of the jewelry and art pictures on this site are links to the same picture with more detail. This helps the page load, but gives you the chance to see a larger picture. If you see a photo you like, follow it to a larger image. If you see any jewerly you like, look for the eBay store logo next the picture.

Almost all tropical jewelry on this site is thanks to Meybol. Meybol is a creative jewelry maker. Each piece has its own unique Meybol style. That is something you can't get with some larger volume non-artisan jewelers. She does not have to "replicate" a set of designs like large volume wholesalers because she is all on her own. Most of the jewelry presented in Costa Rica is artisan jewelry. This makes shopping in Costa Rican much more fun. Meybol uses shells, coconut wood, resin, oyster shell, glass beads and hemp. Cowrie jewelry is jewelry made from cowrie shells. Meybol sells in her store in Lemon Costa Rica, where tourists arrive on cruse ships.

Jeannette specialises in mixed media art (cuadros en relieve). She creates decorative wall hangings. Jeannette also creates decorated Vases. These can be ordered in any size. Jeannette also paints landscapes on feathers. These paintings include beautiful mountain landscapes, tropical birds, flowers and butterflies. These are great decoration for your house.

Saray paints on feathers.

Please visit these pages for a sample of Costa Rican Art and jewelry. Visit Costa Rica for a much larger sample. There is a wide variety. Anything you see can be placed on eBay for your purchase. Also look for the eBay logo indicating items already available.