An electric blue, aqua-flecked rabbit with long purple, yellow and red ears is a vision of lanky, compacted tension, ready to hop. Nearby a green and gold armadillo, tipped onto its back, thrusts legs upward to right itself, while a spotted ocelot slinks along, its yellow and black-striped tail stretched out behind.

The figures are a sampling of the fanciful menagerie created from native copal wood by acclaimed Mexican folk artists Armando and Antonia Jimenez Aragon, who will demonstrate their craft today at Mexico Lindo, a small Mexican folk art store in Squirrel Hill.

The shop, at 2027 Murray Ave., was opened on Cinco de Mayo in 2004 by Jean-Pierre Nutini and Lisa DiGioia-Nutini, who began traveling together in Mexico 11 years ago and married in 2003.

The captivating carvings are among many treasures that populate the lively space, reflected in its full name, which includes Mercado y Galeria de Artesanias, or Market and Gallery of Artisans. "Mexico Lindo" comes from a popular song that celebrates patriotism and love of the land, "Mexico Lindo y Querido" ("Mexico Beautiful and Dear").

"We picked that name," Ms. DiGioia-Nutini says, "because one of our rituals whenever we first arrive in Mexico City is to go to a cafe for lunch where strolling musicians come by and serenade you for a few pesos, and Jean-Pierre always picks that famous song."

As they began taking more frequent trips to Mexico, they sought out the country's artisans and brought back folk art to sell at festivals. "People would ask, 'Where is your store?' " Ms. DiGioia-Nutini says, and they decided to try opening a business, beginning with a website.

Two years later the right physical location became available, and, while they haven't turned a profit yet, they've built a broad customer base that includes neighborhood teens and collectors as far flung as England, Finland and Italy.

For example, at the beginning of the year, in the midst of a devastating weather-driven slump, the shop shipped "13 very collectable wood carvings to a German collector," Ms. DiGioia-Nutini says.

Mexican folk arts in general have traveled a slow road to international recognition, having been given early exposure by Nelson Rockefeller, who amassed a large collection during visits to Mexico between 1933 and 1978. Such prestigious venues as the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian have since added such artworks to their collections.

At the Nutinis' store, shelves hold charming small figurines that sell for about $1 and museum quality wooden or ceramic objects that are priced in the thousands of dollars.

Other items, such as candy, bags of Zapatista coffee beans and bilingual children's books, encourage cultural exploration. Textiles range from T-shirts to exquisitely embroidered Oaxacan-style wedding dresses to a boutique line of silk scarves and handbags designed in the capital.

Similarly, objects made of lacquer, beads, papier-mache, tin, silver and copper encompass small pieces made by children as well as works by internationally known figures from villages and towns that have housed generations of artisans.

Prominent are a variety of items with the image of Mexico's two iconic ladies: the late artist Frida Kahlo, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin Mary depicted as a woman of color. The shop has regular customers who purchase devotional objects that are hard to locate here, such as tall glass-enclosed candles with pictures of Roman Catholic saints.

But the showcase pieces, and the Nutinis' dedication to supporting quality artisans, are what make Mexico Lindo stand out.

The large "Noah's Ark" (see photo, Page E-1) by Mr. and Mrs. Aragon, for example, takes carving to another level. Arranged around a boat vividly painted in primary colors are 11 magical animals, including a majestic purple lion with a striped mane resembling an Egyptian pharaoh headdress, a polka-dotted walrus with a pair of tusks half as long as his body, and fish, fox and bird-like creatures protruding from portholes that represent water, land and air fauna. A traditional Tree of Life ceramic piece expanded to include more than 150 individual flowers, stars, figures and other forms, is a paean to Kahlo.

Ms. DiGioia-Nutini is a font of information about each artwork, artist, village and symbol, and her input adds to the appreciation of the works.

For example, the radiant, boldly graphic images made by the Huichol of colored yarns pressed into beeswax are visually attractive. But even more fascinating is learning that they are the manifestations of visions experienced by shamans during the annual peyote pilgrimage that these indigenous peoples have traveled for centuries. In that light, auras around figures, and the symbolism of the figures themselves, gain added meaning.

Mr. Nutini, 54, was born in Los Angeles. His mother, a native of Mexico City where there is still family, is of Mexican, Spanish and French descent. She is professor emerita of Spanish American literatures and cultures at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. His father, of Chilean and Italian descent, is professor of anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, specializing in sociocultural Latin America, particularly Mexico.

An independent rigging gaffer/electrician and theatrical lighting designer, who studied lighting design at Carnegie Mellon University, Mr. Nutini has worked for companies such as Attack Theatre and Kuntu Repertory Theater as well as for the film industry. With an undergraduate degree in performance from Northern Illinois University and a master's of art in theater from the University of Pittsburgh, he's also had occasional acting roles.

Ms. DiGioia-Nutini, 47, is a native Pittsburgher of Italian, English, Scottish and Irish heritage. Although her father and mother were professionally a medical doctor and nurse, respectively, she says they were both artistically inclined.

Ms. DiGioia-Nutini attended Saturday art classes at Carnegie Museum of Art as a child and earned her graduate gemologist diploma at the Gemological Institute of America in Santa Monica, Calif.

Community education and outreach are a large part of the store's mission.

A popular annual event is the early November celebration of the Day of the Dead, when the spirits of the deceased are believed to return for 24 hours. The Nutinis construct a large traditional altar complete with garlands, food offerings, flowers and the skulls and skeletons, both playful and macabre, that populate Mexican festivals. All are invited to add to the altar the names of people they wish to remember.

Today's visit at the store from 2 to 5 p.m. by the Aragons is co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Pittsburgh.

The center is also a co-sponsor of the 30th Latin American & Caribbean Festival, which will take place from noon to midnight Saturday in the William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh. Mr. and Mrs. Aragon will be featured artists.

"Whatever they do, they do with love," Ms. DiGioia-Nutini says, glancing about the store at works by the artists she represents. "When you look at the great cathedral in Mexico City and think of the circumstances under which it was built, by the slave labor of a conquered people of stones stolen from their temples ... even then you stand and marvel."

For information, call 412-422-9984 or visit www.mexicolindo.biz.

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