Andres still lives in the city in which he was born, the city imbues his art with its colorful, vibrant diversity. It is renown as one of Mexico’s great cultural centers, and rightfully so. It has a rich music and food culture, as well as a thriving community of artists and artisans. Andres has drawn upon all of these components to create his own group of artisans under the name of Andrés Martín del Campo Arte y Diseño.

Early Start

It seems that Andres grew up loving nature, and nature loving him back. He remembers always being surrounded by the farm animals on the ranch, the horses, donkeys and mules in the stables, and the endless landscape of green hills and valleys that surrounded his childhood home.

He grew up in a countryside enclave of the Guadalajara elite, the son of a doctor that helped keep them healthy. So, while his family was comfortably middle class, he grew up surrounded by those with far more than his family had. He therefore felt incredibly thankful when he was granted the wish to pursue an artistic career and education, instead of something more secure.

He had painted since childhood and so that is what he began studying upon entering university. After some time there, he took a class in sculpture that changed the course of his career. The class was taught by one of Mexico’s master sculptors and it convinced Andres to adapt his style and pursue it more.

University continued to teach him classic technique and precision as the years passed, but just as important, the city taught him to look beyond the ivory tower. Andres soon discovered the vast collective of artisans that call Guadalajara home. The tile makers, woodworkers, carvers, etc. forming an endless array of highly skilled men and women that turn ordinary home items into works of art.

After University

While no doubt an artist, Andres had no interest in being a starving one, and so, after graduating, he took on a job at a factory owned by a relative while he continued to pursue his art on his time off.

The factory manufactured resin planting pots, the tall, lightweight type you can find at the hardware store. To be made, a rectangular block is put on a type of lathe and spun against a metal template that will give it its shape. It was his job to swap out and replace the templates as they wore down. Being made out of sturdy, 22 gauge sheet metal, there was a bit of downtime in between swaps and so Andres would pass the time doodling little animals on the discarded templates, sneaking in a little practice as he worked.

He happened to show one of his sketches to an artisan friend one day and brought about the next big turn in his career. The friend took his little metal butterfly drawing with him and came back with something similar to what you see here. His friend took a laser cutter and cut out the outline and detail lines in the drawing, folded, bent the metal to create little, 3d butterfly!

Creating Andrés Martín del Campo Arte y Diseño

Intrigued by what his fried had shown him, Andres took that little butterfly and had more made. Inspired by his painting background, he experimented with color, colorfully decorating the little scrap metal creatures he was now falling in love with making. Butterflies, flowers, the farm animals Andres grew up with all became little metal creatures, and as his skill grew, the more he sensed that this was an opportunity not to be missed.

He pulled together the best artisans he could find to help him form Andrés Martín del Campo Arte y Diseño, to bring his work out to the world. Skilled welders, painters and sculptors making unique art, inspired by their wonderful city, Guadalajara.