Whilst the villages of San Martin, Arrazola and La Union are a 'million' miles from Oaxaca City and 'light years' away from Mexico City, the life around them is changing  - being influenced. Wood carvers are reaching an audience far beyond their local comprehension of the world and some wood carvers are reaching out to that world. This is changing the nature of woodcarving. Much is now made for an audience and making for an audience changes what you make. If Oaxacaoriginal is interested in the older craftsmen and woman, it is because the history is still at work unchanged and that beginnings are sometimes more important than ends. In that respect it is tempting to go back as far as one can - to the carvings made fifty years ago and before when there was not an audience. 

Maximino and his wife Jolanda are part of the history. Their work is part of each others. It is impossible to remove the contribution each make to their work and the collective history. This cannot be said for much wood carving that is produced today, which reacts to demands the tourist market. In all the wood carvings produced today there is little that so vividly expresses the heart of Oaxacan life more than these simple carvings and their bright painting.  Maximino and Jolanda live next to their farmland in La Union.