Studiology

Day of the Dead

While in Oaxaca, Mexico last year, I photographed many things. Between the ofrendas, cemetery visits, and architecture, it was an amazing trip. Bright and colorful is the norm, but for Day of the Dead or All Souls Day, everything is escalated. Cobbled streets, door ways, just about everything is festooned with intricately cut paper flags which are also known as papel picado.

Flowers are shipped in by the truck load from local fields to fill ofrendas, cemeteries and add ornament to entry ways.

Ofrendas are everywhere, in many sizes. A special bread is baked and offered at market, sold as pan de muerto or bread of the dead, it's yet another offering to lure ancestors to visit. 

In one particular market, a local celebrity is known as the Frida Kahlo look alike;

Cemeteries open for all night celebrations with music, food, drink and family conversations. Special candles are three feet tall, to burn the whole night. My first cemetery visit was a thing of reverence. So deep was this feeling that I don't think I can fully explain the experience. 

This year I have created my own ofrenda. There is no doubt that the creation or execution of something so special gives one pause and brings up many emotions. Tonight I will share time with special people that have passed. Some I haven't thought of in a very long time. 

It becomes a journey into the past and reflective examination, a pause in our busy lives. 

 

Happy Halloween

This time last year I was in Mexico for Day of the Dead festivities. So much has changed with events cancelled all over the world, even though they may have been going on for many, many years. I suspect that there might be some small gatherings but I understand that the cemeteries are closed and I doubt there are parades.  My first stop was Mexico City which is a vibrant, jam packed metropolis. I've decided to revisit my photographs and take a look at the city again and the events that happen there for the last days of October. It's impossible to not notice the ornate architecture and presence of art.

In the main zocalo there are vendors, indigenous people quite often, selling their wares. These are examples of feathered head dress which were spectacular.

Our group visited the Palacio Nacional where Diego Rivera fresco murals are housed (one a a few locations). These enormous murals extend for several floors and it's very obvious that Diego told stories with his painting, even as he recorded the history of the city. Familiar faces can be spotted from time to time, including Frida Kahlo and Diego. This mural depicts a local dentist and doctor as well as tables spread with food.

There was a bug show at the Palacio Nacional with these ants made of dried vines and twigs.

The show would not be complete with out an alebrije bee.

The Mexico City post office is one of many architectural wonders.

As was the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

Marigolds are the flowers of the season, decorating ofrendas, gravesites, buildings, and all manor of shops. The front of this restaurant displayed an entire façade of marigold flowers, placed one by one.

 

Ofrendas are not as common here as the are in further south, particularly in Oaxaca, but can be found. The small and large ofrendas are built to remember those that have parted and offer them items they enjoyed. Photographs are placed and candles are lit, all to celebrate The Day of the Dead.

A  visit to Frida Kahlo's blue house was a big highlight and most of the house was kept as she left it. This is one of her easels with art supplies and the view of her courtyard.

The kitchen was colorful and bright, a warm and cozy setting.

After the accident that left Frida immobilized, she painted many self portraits.

My sister and I managed to meet up with Elin (we attended high school together in Mexico City) at the San Angel Inn, which was fabulous. Elin decided to live in Mexico and I have been fortunate to meet up with her twice in the last few years. There are many times that I envy her life.

We would be off to Oaxaca soon and I will share some photographs that haven't been shared yet. Since I'm home I carved my Halloween pumpkins again and would like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween. 

 

Fat Tuesday

Cheers to Fat Tuesday, to my artist friends that gather in New Orleans, and to the crazy krewe's that perform in the parades of New Orleans. I will end this year's chapter with a look back at my last parade and the fabulous art that was created during our Ghost Rider workshop. The theme's for each year are decided by our instructor Michael deMeng and this one was also titled "The Krewe du Ghoul Workshop" which translates to parade ready ghost assemblage. Working towards a theme can be a delightful exercise in creativity or not! I used roller skate parts to build mine and it sits on a stage with magnets embedded to hold it in place. As usual, I built 2 pieces, but one was much, much smaller. 

And here are all of the other assembled ghouls.

The Krewe du Vieux parade was its usual risque act, these are censored photographs.

This was the Transformers Krewe - Revenge of the Storm Drains and they were busily picking up items to recycle.

And thanks to Thom Ciulla I have this photograph of our parade through the French Quarter where we don't attract as large a crowd but we take it seriously.

And another fun year down!

Happy Mardi Gras!

 

And so Mardi Gras Begins

The parades continued, passing through the French Quarter, it was a short walk to catch the next one, titled "Krewe Boheme'. I'm not sure it has a real theme, described as "Artsy and Inventive", that it certainly was. 

Things are still pretty tame, the rowdy parade is on Saturday and it's not for the easily offended. Meanwhile we had a wonderful night at the Broad Theater with our own big screen show of "Beetlejuice". There was food and cocktails and some dancing in the aisles!

Also a day trip to the Barataria Preserve, which was right up my alley. Drippy Spanish moss, alligators, resurrection ferns, and cypress knees.

Spring was already arriving with the first week of February and maple flowers in New Orleans. Once home I found my snowdrops and winter aconite in bloom, a different kind of spring offering but one that brings a smile.

Playing Dress-up in New Orleans

As an art group we are in class on most days but for extracurricular activities we are lead by Katherine Engen who lets us know when it's appropriate to don wigs and makeup. There are many occasions in New Orleans to get fancy, it is the town that loves to wear costumes.

This is Katherine Engen and myself, getting ready to see a parade. The more you dress-up, the more goodies are thrown your way, in fact it's best to take a bag for the collection of oddities that you collect.

We also participated in our own Second Line Parade and the great costume reveal was held in the lobby of the hotel. I must add that the workshop this year was titled "Ghost Riders" which was a bit "wide open", so some came as their favorite dead person. I was Frida Khalo.

Karla had joined the group, a friend from Merrifield Garden Center and she came ready to party having just flown in from Wisconsin. This group is well known for their costume prowess, every year it seems to get better!

KD came as "Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl", and she rocked the costume.

We cause such a stir in the lobby of the hotel that guests want to pose with us. Oh it's fun!

I think we did a good job.

First Day in New Orleans

Priorities are a bit different in New Orleans. With only 15 minutes to spare, I made it to the hotel and then Preservation Hall just in time for my reservation on night one. 

On my first full day I walked around, this is my 9th trip, so I knew where to go. A priority is Royal Street for the art galleries. The French Quarter has not experienced frost this year so decorated balconies were splendid with hanging plants. 

Gorgeous old gates and wrought iron fences line small yards where tropical plants grow.

My evening's first parade of the Mardi Gras season was also their first, number one of 39. The parade title was "Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus", designed for fans of Star Wars, Trekkies, conspiracy theorists, super nerds, etc.. Never disappointing, this town knows how to dress-up for a parade.

I was told that this is a three hour parade and by 10 PM I was done, no dinner, no drinking, it was time to finish for the day. Class would begin on day 2 and I would find my New Orleans family. We have spent many days together over the years and completed a few art projects, which makes us very fond of each other. 

So stay tuned for more parades and costumes as well as some New Orleans art.

 

 

Assemblage in Mexico

Of the 20 or so artists that joined me in Mexico, some have a direction or plan when it comes to building their projects, some haven't a clue and bring items to tinker with and then there are those that buy items on the street and work with them, happy to have something that comes from the destination. I fell into the group that knew 1 item I would build and had no idea on the second. With clay drying time and paint drying time, I always want to have at least 2 items going at once. There was also a little problem with shipping items and suitcase weight, which prompted me to pre-drill everything I could, there were no plans on bringing a drill in my suitcase, the Dremel, paint, clay and brushes was going to have to do.

The stop in Mexico City was an add on, for those that wanted to really immerse themselves in famous art and artists of that place. We visited the murals of Deigo and went to Frida Khalo's blue house or Casa Azul. This was a real highlight for me and I was impressed with that and everything that happened in one of the biggest cities in the world. Frida Khalo was severely handicapped in an accident that involved a street car when she was in her late teens. She was bedridden for a large part of those early years, eventually moved to a wheel chair, but never recovered fully from the injury and wore a back brace. This began her painting career and there were 2 beds in her house, one of which was a bed with a canopy top and a mirror so that she could look at herself and paint self-portraits. The studio where she worked has been left after her passing, paints, brushes and easel all where she used them.

 

 

 

She kept various animals in the courtyard and also owned the hairless Mexican dogs known as Xoloitzcuintli or Xolo dogs. We saw a few from time to time, better in a tropical place with their lack of fur.

Once in Oaxaca the art tours continued and we visited artists that made alebrijes or the very ornate animals.

Clay Catrinas are another common form of art, the lady skeleton for Day of the Dead. 

As our projects began I put together my piece just as I had planned, a skeleton form with a child inside. It had not made complete sense when I left but it became very clear once there, or at least the idea percolated and fit into my surroundings.

These giant paper mache forms have a person inside and they tower over everyone as part of the Day of the Dead parades. Called Los Monos, they often have a skeleton-like face.

On my piece the legs and arms are hinged and swing, the whole piece is on a mount and can be removed. Essentially a Day of the Dead parade participant.

My second piece became a Mexican hairless dog, specifically Frida Khalo's dog with a back brace and red flowers on its head. A little skeleton face too, naturally! Here are some of the other artists work;

This one had a little mask that could come off.

 

There were many others and we celebrated our accomplishment with local Mescal, a drink that comes from the agave and as old as the conquistadors. Made from any agave plant, not just the 'Weber's Blue' for tequila, it's essentially fermented mash. 

Michael deMeng was our instructor and once again delivered a delightful critique leaving us all feeling accomplished.

I am not done with this revisit of my trip and plan on adding at least one more blog to highlight some other art and artists. I hope you have enjoyed it and the "Rise of the Forsaken Toys" workshop. 

 

 

Street Art and an Antique Toy Museum in Mexico City

Before I show you what I created in Mexico for my art retreat and workshop, I feel that I have to show you what influenced my creations. If you have not been to Mexico City, then you may not know that it's one of the most artistic cities in the world where street art is encouraged and people travel there to go on street art tours which take them all over the city. 

One of our stops was a museum, specifically the Antique Toy Museum of Mexico City. This workshop was titled "Rise of the Forsaken Toys", so it's only fitting to go to a toy museum (which also displays a lot of street art). A long time love of toys lead the owner Roberto Shimizii to fill a multi-level building with toys from all over the world which displays approximately 40,000 items but houses a collection of over a million. Vintage Barbie dolls caught my attention, who knew there were so many?

The entire place was wall to wall toys, clustered into themed areas, the entire worth of this building for a toy collector can't be imagined.

There was also local street art, mostly on the roof and it was incredible.

A view from the roof shows how prolific the street or wall art is as well as how a each roof is used, there were cats, dogs, pigeons and clothes lines on the roofs of Mexico City where the climate is mild, few homes have air conditioners or heaters.

We also toured the murals of Mexico City and other museums, all to prepare for our workshop time in Oaxaca where there was also incredible street art.

Inspiration could be found everywhere, the colors, the freedom of expression, all part of everyday life in Mexico.

 

The Tule Tree

The famous tule tree of Oaxaca is located 6 miles outside of the city, and the fee to enter the gates and visit this enormous tree is ten pesos or about fifty cents. Listed as the stoutest tree in the world or the tree with the largest trunk diameter of any tree on the planet, it is extraordinarily beautiful and awe-inspiring. The actual age is unknown but it is estimated to be two to three thousand years old. 

Botanically known at Taxodium mucronatum, it is a tropical species of bald cypress. As a water lover, it can become very large when conditions are right, but none have surpassed this specimen.

A beautiful church stands beside it as well as gorgeous gardens.

I feel blessed to have stood in its shade, the full impact of its size is almost indescribable. 

As is the case in many parts of the world, trees that attain this size and age are considered holy. Time shared with these senior citizens is far too fleeting in the context of the time they have been alive on this planet.

Oaxaca

The colorful city of Oaxaca is tropical and the beautiful floral surrounds must have influenced the use of colors in the buildings and garments. This city of 3.8 million people are a confluence of various indigenous people, predominantly Zapotec and Miztec. Most are devout Catholics and hard workers. The fields that surround the city are planted in rows of agave (for tequila, mescal, and pulque), marigolds, celosia and various crops like corn with rows that appear to be dug by hand as they are often irregular and not sharply linear. Marigolds, celosia, and a few other flowers are a fall crop, seemingly bought by every household and business to decorate for Day of the Dead. Large shrines or ofrendas are created and filled with items that a lost relative or friend would have enjoyed. November 2nd is a national holiday to commemorate the Day of the Dead and a large percentage of the population can be found in local cemeteries on the the 1st,  passing the night together and talking about those that have passed. I observed some knee slapping, imagining that each year tall tales get taller, and more humor is added as time passes. 

Day trips included the ancient ruins of Monte Alban and Mitla and we had excellent guides that accompanied us with each trip. 

Stone carvings at Monte Alban have been deciphered by archeologists and the conclusion is that most carvings are of sacrificed humans, the reason for their odd poses. It was also believed that all were men, but this carving is that of a female and a breach birth. 

The beautiful ruins at Mitla were a religious center for the Zapotec, with Monte Alban built as the political center or hub. Of course I was intrigued by the local flora. 

Fences made of cactus were common and I'm sure they are very effective.

Parades or comparsas continued in the city, so everyday held the potential for colorful celebrations.

I was repeatedly told that I would love Oaxaca and indeed I did!