Palm Sunday Crosses. Youtube PC Mar 28, 2010 An artistic tradition flourishes for Palm Sunday As a boy growing up in the small town of Tepalcatepec in the Mexican state of Michoacan, Esteban Torres …More
Palm Sunday Crosses.
Youtube PC Mar 28, 2010 An artistic tradition flourishes for Palm Sunday
As a boy growing up in the small town of Tepalcatepec in the Mexican state of Michoacan, Esteban Torres marveled at the intricate palm weavings that artisans and priests distributed each spring.
Now, from a flower shop in a Santa Ana strip mall, Torres preserves the Palm Sunday tradition himself.
Torres, 52, is one of a small number of crafts people who work in the background of Holy Week, weaving palm fronds into elaborate crosses, flowers and geometric shapes that will become tokens of faith in Catholic churches on Palm Sunday.
Every spring, Torres puts in an order for thousands of the fronds, which are harvested from palms in the Yucatan Peninsula. They arrive at the downtown Los Angeles flower market by way of Miami and he transports them, bundle by thick bundle, to his flower shop.
The fronds are long, ribbon-like and flexible; easy to pull apart, thread and fold into spectacular designs. The process takes up to two weeks, and then Torres -- like fellow artisans elsewhere in Southern California Latino communities -- delivers the finished products to a nearby parish.
articles.latimes.com/…/me-palm-sunday-…
Youtube PC Mar 28, 2010 An artistic tradition flourishes for Palm Sunday
As a boy growing up in the small town of Tepalcatepec in the Mexican state of Michoacan, Esteban Torres marveled at the intricate palm weavings that artisans and priests distributed each spring.
Now, from a flower shop in a Santa Ana strip mall, Torres preserves the Palm Sunday tradition himself.
Torres, 52, is one of a small number of crafts people who work in the background of Holy Week, weaving palm fronds into elaborate crosses, flowers and geometric shapes that will become tokens of faith in Catholic churches on Palm Sunday.
Every spring, Torres puts in an order for thousands of the fronds, which are harvested from palms in the Yucatan Peninsula. They arrive at the downtown Los Angeles flower market by way of Miami and he transports them, bundle by thick bundle, to his flower shop.
The fronds are long, ribbon-like and flexible; easy to pull apart, thread and fold into spectacular designs. The process takes up to two weeks, and then Torres -- like fellow artisans elsewhere in Southern California Latino communities -- delivers the finished products to a nearby parish.
articles.latimes.com/…/me-palm-sunday-…
