In 2015, my wife and I were fortunate to visit Costa Rica for 10 days. We visited the town of Sarchi, the oxcart capital of Costa Rica. It is where oxcart painting began.

The colorfully-painted wooden oxcarts (called carretas in Spanish), their teams of matched oxen, and their oxcart drivers are known around the world. No two oxcarts are painted exactly the same. The fine art of oxcart painting has been passed down in families from generation to generation.

The story, handed down in the family of Joaquin Chaverri, says that Joaquin decided to beautify his oxcart to take his family on outings in the cart on Sundays. He painted his first oxcart bright orange because it was the only color he had available. Orange and red have since become known as the most traditional colors for cart painting. Joaquin used powered pigment mixed with linseed oil to deeply soak into the wood, making it more durable and long-lasting.

When the practice spread, different regions - and sometimes even individual families- developed their own particular design and color scheme.