Dennis can be reached by phone 888-442-4095 (toll free from the U.S.) or e-mail at eldoradoimports@gmail.com
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BIO
Dennis McCann
Dennis was born in Brooklyn, New York, and at the age of four he and his family moved to Bermuda. After High School there, for three years he worked on cruise ships based on the island and travelling throughout the Caribbean, South and Central America. At the age of 21 Dennis moved to Miami. He then received a draft notice (Viet Nam era) and volunteered for the Air Force. After his 4 year commitment was completed he began a broadcasting career in radio in the small town of Titusville, Florida. After 2 years there he moved to Southern California and continued working in radio, as well as attending college at night to receive a B.A. Degree in Television and Film. Soon after that Dennis established his own Advertising Agency. For over 20 years he owned and operated El Dorado Media Services helping clients advertise and market to U.S. Hispanics.
Soon after arriving in California, Dennis began travelling to Mexico, first to Baja for weekend getaways and then to the interior. During his first trip to Mexico City more than 20 years ago, Dennis visited the National Museum of Anthropology in Chapultepec Park. This proved to be a revelation of a whole new world to him. The pre-Columbian artwork and Aztec style and culture caught his imagination. He soon began reading and intensely studying the history of Pre-Columbian Mexico and the Conquest. He also began visiting many of the Aztec archaeological sites including the magnificent “City of the Gods”, Teotihuacan and Cholula, the sacred city of the Aztecs and home of the largest pyramid in Mexico. Having the idea of obtaining replicas of the Aztec art he saw at the museum, Dennis began inquiring in the small villages around these important sites. After a few days and many dead ends, he came upon Humberto, an artist of the highest quality. Buying a few pieces from him, Dennis began an important relationship that exists to this day. Over the years Dennis has commissioned Humberto to produce many spectacular replicas of Aztec, Maya and Olmec art. During the past 15 years Dennis has also discovered other top quality artists in Taxco, Taxco Viejo, Guadalajara, Tonala and Tlaqueapaque. His hobby of collecting pre-Colombian artwork soon became a business, commissioning hundreds of pieces, ranging from heads, masks, Aztec warriors (Guerrero Aguila, Guerrero Jaguars) and exact replicas of famous museum pieces. These are all hand crafted from obsidian stone (a black volcanic stone used extensively by the Aztecs for weapons and art) dressed with silver, turquoise and other gemstones. Some of the pieces are hand carved from the rare and beautiful rainbow obsidian. He then added other categories including Aztec calendars, Mayan glyphs, sacrificial knives, etc. A few years later he added jewelry from Taxco, the silver capital of Mexico, to his inventory. All of this exquisite sterling silver jewelry is pre-Columbian inspired with semi-precious stone inlays of authentic Mesoamerican, Aztec and Mayan designs.
All of this art and jewelry has been available at his 2 websites (now merged as one) www.mexarte.com and www.aztecajewelry.com. Five years ago Dennis established and operated a retail and wholesale store in Victorville, California bringing in container loads of pottery and home décor from all over Mexico. 18 months ago ago Dennis sold the store and realized his dream of moving to live in Mexico. He now lives the picturesque village of San Antonio Tlayacapan on the shore of Lake Chapala about an hour from Guadalajara. Dennis now has the time and location to travel to all the art centers of Mexico to concentrate on adding new categories and finding new artesanos. Some of the new categories recently added are clay Mayan figures, tapestries (with Mesoamerican designs) and Repujado (metal wall art). Dennis is enjoying the near perfect weather in his new home and soaking up the culture that he has been so fascinating to him for almost thirty years. He also continues to do some exporting from Mexico through his company El Dorado Imports located in Victorville, California. Recently Dennis made a representative arrangement with a co-operative in the town of Zacoalco, home of Equipales, the traditional Mexican furniture seen in many Mexican restaurants.
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