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Maya Colop Morales

"I believe that the artisan should receive a fair price for the art he creates with his or her hands.

"Since I was little girl, I've liked Guatemalan handicrafts and textiles. When she was young, my mother worked in ceramics, brass repoussé and hand embroidery; that's how I became involved in developing my artistic skills. I started to formally design textiles in my last year of high school when I began taking more art and drawing classes in the afternoons. At the university, I dedicated 100 percent of my time to learning weaving, knitting, embroidery, painting and drawing techniques.

"My first completed piece was a textile I made during my first semester there. I still keep it as a souvenir. I learned how to weave on small, old fashioned pedal looms, and I had to practice in a number of design workshops before I could graduate.

"I decided to come back to Guatemala to develop my ideas and support artisan textiles in my country where support and motivation are so needed. This way I could create quality textiles, employing independent weavers to craft my designs. So far, we have created our fabrics on backstrap and floor looms, however, we've implemented new techniques so that independent weavers and artisans have new ways to produce textiles. "I'm an adventurous woman, creative and proactive. I'm always aware of my social responsibility. I hope to one day see that all of Guatemala's artisans have the opportunity to receive a fair compensation for their work because, as we all know, handmade artisan textiles are complex and laborious.

"What attracts me most is the process of textile design. It begins in my mind. I then create a pre-sample on the computer before making the first samples with our materials and, finally, finishing the final sample. I love experimenting with new designs, colors and dyes to make my textiles unique.

"The weavers who collaborate with me have become my main inspiration, as I've seen their effort and determination to get ahead in life. Thanks to the support of my family, I've established myself as a designer and made many of my dreams come true. I enjoy sharing with them, traveling through Guatemala and taking a little of my homeland's beauty to other countries.

"I consider Novica to be one of the companies that most help artisans and entrepreneurs like me. The designs we sell are innovative and must pass many stages of quality control to ensure you'll be happy with them."