Craig Moya, a 24-year-old Santa Fe County firefighter, has an off-duty passion. He is a straw-appliqué artist, one of nearly 200 makers of arts and crafts who will show their work at booths in downtown Santa Fe during this weekend's 60th annual Traditional Spanish Market.

Moya first learned straw appliqué from his mother, Gene Anaya-Moya, when he was 10. A year later, he began exhibiting pieces at the Spanish Market in his mother's booth, which the two continue to share.

"She tried to get me involved right away and get me to learn the craft," he said. "It's special, because my other brothers used to do it, but they faded out."

Straw appliqué developed from the desires of 16th-century Spanish priests to decorate their churches in the New World with gold items similar to the ones they brought with them from Spain.

Since gold was not found in New Mexico, the inhabitants improvised and used other materials. They discovered that local grasses, when dried, almost looked something like gold.

"It was called the poor man's gold," Donna Pedace, executive director of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society, said. "It was the closest approximation to gold that they could come up with."

The process involves splitting and flattening the straw and removing the inside to get very thin, golden-colored pieces. The tiny pieces are affixed to pieces of wood or metal in geometric or figurative designs. The most common items are crosses, frames and boxes.

"I started as a youth and over the years my work has become a lot more refined and well placed," Moya said. "Nature inspires my floral work. I've been fighting the forest fires and I get some new ideas being out in the wilderness."

Moya said he also gets inspiration from southern Spain, particularly Sevilla. While in college he spent six months exploring that country's churches and museums. He returned with a greater understanding of ways to create complex mosaics and geometric pieces.

Pedace has witnessed Moya's transformation and is excited by the fact that he continues to innovate.

"He is an astonishing young artist," she said. "You look at the size of his hands and wonder how he does the most incredibly delicate straw appliqué. Its amazing that those hands could do something so beautiful and delicate."

This year, the Spanish Market added a category for artists who explore contemporary work within traditional methods. The Innovations Within Traditions category was created after artists called for more open expression.

"The artists are saying we value that heritage but we are going to explore some new ways to present it," Pedace said. "The first two or three years there is going to be a balancing act because the artists are going to experiment with how far they want this to go."

To be accepted in the new category, artists must have participated in the market for at least two years. If their work is accepted, 30 percent of their inventory can follow the category's guidelines.

The Spanish Market Society accepted 22 artists, including Moya, for the new category.

"I will incorporate flowers and other symbols like that," Moya said. "I've been working on them and it's exciting that I've been able to show them now. It's a new spin on the market. I believe this twist is a catalyst to get a younger generation involved in doing this kind of artwork."

Still, he sees the importance of staying within the confines of the market's conventional imagery.

"It is a traditional market, and I believe it's important to have your innovation pieces traced in the old style, so you can trace your roots," he said. "I'm really looking forward to the people's reaction to the innovations category. So far it's been mixed."

Contact Shaun Griswold at 986-3052 or sgriswold@sfnewmexican.com

TRADITIONAL SPANISH MARKET EVENTS

Today

• Noon. The Spanish Table, 109 N. Guadalupe St., a store that specializes in tools and equipment for Spanish cooking, will host a Spanish sausage sampling, complete with a lecture on how to make and cure your own Spanish style sausages by Robert Fettig. Flamenco guitarist Joaquin Gallegos will entertain.

• 6 to 7 p.m. Sponsors-only Preview Party ($300) at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 102 W. Marcy St. Call 982-2226 to upgrade membership.

• 7 to 9 p.m. Preview party for Spanish Colonial Arts Society members only, Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Memberships start at $40.

Saturday

• 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Traditional Spanish Market takes place on the Santa Fe Plaza, with art, food and entertainment. Free

• 10 to 11 a.m. Greeting and proclamation, Mayor Coss. Youth Art Awards, Plaza community stage

• 11 a.m. to noon. Manzanares with Max and the Latin Daddies, Plaza community stage

• Noon to 2 p.m. Puppet Revenge, Plaza street

• Noon. The Spanish Table, 109 N. Guadalupe St., paella-making demonstration. Free

• 2 to 3 p.m. Maria Benitez-Instutute For Spanish Arts, Plaza Community Stage

• 3 to 4 p.m. Nacha Mendez, Plaza community stage

Sunday

• 8 a.m. A special Market Mass will be celebrated at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, with the blessing of the Spanish Market art and artists. A procession from the church around the Plaza will follow, led by a mariachi band.

• 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Traditional Spanish Market takes place on the Plaza.

• 9:30 to 11 a.m. Procession from the Cathedral Basilica St. Francis of Assisi, Archbishop's blessing on the Plaza and Mariachi Paisano de Valle, Plaza community stage

• 11 a.m. to noon. Ballet en Fuego Dance Company, street

• Noon to 2 p.m., Isaiah Martinez, Plaza street

• 2 to 3 p.m. Chuy Martinez y Oti Ruiz, Plaza community stage

• 3 to 4 p.m. Los Hermanos Martinez, Plaza community stage