With my trip to Mexico and back, I feel so thankful to have made it there and home again with no alterations in my plans. The art group met after a 2 year absence and it was so wonderful to be back with each other and doing what we love. Add to that a whole lot of adventures and meals that were some of the best I have ever eaten, I think that it was a delightful trip for everyone. The country was prepared for tourists with extra precautions at almost every stop, sterilize shoes - take temperature - apply hand sanitizer, and wear masks.
My last photograph with my iPhone may have summed up the trip, but there are many taken with my real camera. This was the evening before the early morning (3:30) cab ride to the airport. There are certainly overlapping themes, Day of the Dead, bright colors, skilled artists, and a town that lives for tourism.
A lot of the pets were also prepared for Halloween and Day of the Dead. Some were real show offs.
The street artists and art are as colorful as the surrounds. Houses are painted in bright colors, the local woman wear gorgeous dresses and aprons, it's truly a land of bold colors.
Trips to local towns took us to specialized communities of clay, wool, and candle artists. With each stop we were introduced to how the products are mined, harvested, and created, almost all built and managed by women.
Just about all of the women work in these incredibly colorful clothes which are very traditional. The tools here are corn cobs, and pieces of soccer ball to shape this Comal, used for heating food, especially tortillas. A clothesline outside the house held more of their brightly colored dresses and aprons, the house was painted purple.
The candle makers are very specialized and I think the photographs will illustrate the skill which is passed from generation to generation in all of these pursuits.
This single candle is for a wedding. They are also made for engagements, the larger the candle the more likely the forthcoming nuptials. The details in the flowers is astonishing.
The weavers work with many natural dye ingredients, particularly cochineal for red, a scale insect on the local cactus. In the weaver's town, looms are in every house, on most porches, possibly in some bedrooms.
In a tropical climate, the use of plants combined with architecture really caught my attention in the town of Oaxaca. That and a cooking class, our own art class, and more adventures will be in the content of my next follow-up of Mexico in 2021.
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