Colorful Oaxaca

Mariano Sosa Martinez works on indigo dye before placing wool inside the pot. The wool initially comes out of the dye looking green but turns blue after interacting with oxygen.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Josefina Aguilar produces decorative human figures in Ocotlan de Morelos, about 20 miles south of Oaxaca.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

At the rooftop bar of Casa Oaxaca, you can munch on some roasted chapulines, which you might know as grasshoppers, for a tasty appetizer.   (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

A deep red dye comes from cochineal insects that feed on prickly pear cactuses, like these that are grown and harvested by Mariano Sosa Martinez.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Oaxaca city has a walkable central area filled with colorful buildings and colonial architecture.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

A woman crosses the square in front of the Church of Santo Domingo, which was active as a monastery from 1608 to 1857.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

The modern Oaxaca is visible from the recently excavated archaeological site at Atzompa, a satellite city of the Zapotec capital of Monte Alban.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

A woman puts the finishing touches on an alebrije, this one a fantastically colored owl, made of hand-carved copal wood.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Irma Garcia Blanco of the Oaxacan village of Atzompa is known for creating figures, in a pre-Hispanic style, with very delicate lines around the eyes.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Macrina Mateo Martinez has become well known for her red pottery, a Zapotec craft she learned from her ancestors. She lives in the tiny village of San Marcos Tlapazola, where many of the families are potters.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Macrina Mateo Martinez lives in the tiny village of San Marcos Tlapazola, where many of the families are potters.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Get a cocktail made with mezcal at the rooftop bar of Casa Oaxaca, and drink in the views.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Mariano Sosa Martinez is a weaver in Teotitlan del Vallo, where he produces both modern and iconic Zapotec imagery on his rugs and other products, using all-natural dyes. The rug shown here took about a month to make.  (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)