Alebrijes

4th grade students created clay animals inspired by "alebrijes" made by the Oaxacan people of Mexico. Students colored their clay animals with brightly colored oil pastels and then dipped their clay animal into a bath of watered down tempera paint. Students learned  that Alebrijes are brightly colored animal sculptures that were originally created by Pedro Linares. Linares was very sick with a fever and dreamed about brightly colored animals. He decided to re-create these animals by creating wood carvings and painting them with brightly colored paints. He also made these sculptures with cardboard and paper mache. The people of Oaxaca were already known for their animal sculptures and they decided to begin painting their sculptures with bright paints like Linares. They now make these sculptures for tourists and to sell in other countries.

A lizard

A rhino

A dragon

A cobra