Wood Carved Nativities by Louise Ortega

Carving is something that comes naturally to Louisa Ortega. She is the youngest daughter of world renowned master woodcarver and Santero, Ben Ortega Sr. Santeros are artists who make Santos—images of saints, and are one of the oldest living traditions of religious devotion practiced by people in the Southwest. Ben Ortega Sr. began his career in 1961 when a figure of St. Francis de Assisi, that he had made for fun, became a collected item by dealers all around the world.

Louisa began carving wooden animals at a young age, taught by her father, and now works behind her family home on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Her studio is surrounded by thousands of earth-colored pieces of driftwood she has collected from the winding arroyos and dry riverbeds of New Mexico.

Louise was 8 years old when she started carving. She had always wanted to learn to carve. One day father found her working with his tools, and said it was time to learn carving because he didn’t want her to get hurt. That’s how it started.

Louise loved watching her dad, Ben Ortega Sr. He was a person who was so neat to watch while he was carving. Louise says her dad was so wonderful and she loved him so much. He was a very famous man in Santa Fe, well liked, and he loved his art! Louise thinks about her dad when she is carving every single time, especially his hands as she used to look at his hands all the time. "To me his hands were so beautiful' Louise says, "I have pictures of them and the way he would work with his carving tools". Louise looks for special pieces of wood when she is in the mountains all over New Mexico, she says, "More than anything that’s my life; going into the woods and looking and looking for wood to carve". We hope you enjoy her work.

Louise Ortega—"When I go out looking for wood, it has to be a really special piece because I don’t like to just pick up any kind. In everything I bring back I see something different. Like this (points to an ash colored carving of a tree, dotted with small birds) I picked this up and right away I saw the trees of Cochiti Lake, the birds were on the trees, so I put the birds on this just the way I saw them in my mind’s eye".

"I see different things. I see little animals, a lot of angels, the wood can look like the clouds, or the mountains. I love looking at all that wood. I’m in heaven when in the mountains. I love it, I just love it. More than anything that’s my life; going into the woods and looking and looking for wood to carve."