The elegant and charming wood carvings by José Belandria have become popular for collectors and museums alike in Venezuela. Working in a tiny shed connected to his house in a suburb of Mérida, every day Belandria brings to life a small group of historical and religious characters for which he is famous. Santa Teresa de Avila, Simón Bolívar, San Antonio de Padua, and a host of other figures popular in Venezuelan folk culture are carved and decorated by Belandria in a manner unlike that of any of his colleagues in Mérida. Belandria’s trademarks are elegance of form, articulating arms and legs, greatly oversized hands, and finely rendered facial features. Also setting him apart from other folk carvers in the area is his use of crayon, which he manages very effectively.

Marion Oettinger, Jr., "Woman in Yellow Dress with Boy," The Folk Art of Latin America: Visiones Del Pueblo (New York: Dutton Studio Books in association with the Museum of American Folk Art, 1992), 89.