Beaded fingernail in Puerto Vallarta

Back in early January when we were in Puerto Vallarta we were fortunate to connect with friends who took a true cruise ship into Banderas Bay.  Marilyn and Vito are dear friends from our Coronado, CA days.  We sailed into a marina and they arrived the next morning. They came to our boat; Marilyn checked out what Chandler had been designing with her Klutz "My Style" kit and Vito taught Henry and Doug how to tie knots for fishing lures.

We spent the day together exploring some sights and shops in PV followed by a wonderful meal.  

As we strolled the shops along the malecon we found an art gallery showing stunning artwork of the Huichol people.  This indigenous group of people live in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains in the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Zacatecas, and Durango, MX.  There was a demonstration being done by a Huichol artisan.  He offered to add his artwork to Chandler's nail!  After putting a clay-like substance on her nail and quickly put the beads in place over the clay the design hardened enough and didn't fall off until late that evening.  The beaded sculptures these artists make are amazingly intricate and beautiful to say the least.