Paño: Art from the “Inside” Out

Handkerchiefs are the foundation of paño art. Its origins began in the prisons of the southwest providing Hispanic inmates with an affordable, portable, and mailable canvas on which they expressed their hopes, dreams, memories, and experiences both inside and outside the prison walls.

Paño: Art from the "Inside" Out - “Whether intensely spiritual or brazenly secular, paño art draws on the deepest emotions of prisoners whose artistic expression is limited only by the materials at hand. The word paño (Spanish for cloth or handkerchief) has come to mean the art form itself -- a ball point pen or colored pencil drawing on a handkerchief.” NOTE: Click on arrow at the bottom of each page for more information and drawings
http://www.internationalfolkart.org/exhibitions/past/panos/index.html

Guide to Paño Symbolism http://www.internationalfolkart.org/exhibitions/past/panos/guide.html