Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, tagged Benito Juárez, Bolinas, California, graffiti, Mexico, Oaxaca, wall art on December 26, 2011| 3 Comments »
Apparently, I’m not the only one who has made the journey from Oaxaca to California. The San Francisco Bay Area has been basking in sun and Oaxacan-blue-skies. Even though the temps don’t match-up, the coast beckoned…
And, wall art greeted us in Bolinas.
Gosh, except for the subject matter, I felt like I was in Oaxaca!
Wait! Who is that I see?
None other than Oaxaca’s favorite son, Benito Juárez. The subject matter IS the same!!!
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged celebrations, dance, Mexico, music, Oaxaca, travel, video on December 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, tagged Arte Jaguar, Asaro, Bouler, Espantapájaros, graffiti, Lapiztola, Mexico, Oaxaca, Pan-American Highway, Primer Festival de Artes Visuales Oaxaca 2011, public art, Puntos de Encuentro, Uriel Marín, visual arts, Viyegax on December 1, 2011| 2 Comments »
… equals public art on Calzada Niños Héroes de Chapultepec, a section of the legendary Pan-American Highway in Oaxaca’s capital city.
On October 27, 2011, representatives from the groups Espantapájaros, Asaro, Bouler, Viyegax, Arte Jaguar, Lapiztola, and Uriel Marín set to work transforming a long drab wall into a work of art representing the social, cultural, and political life of Oaxaca and Mexico. The wall of graffiti was part of the Puntos de Encuentro, Primer Festival de Artes Visuales Oaxaca 2011, previously mentioned in my mid-October blog post, Meeting Points….
As of a few days ago, the artwork remains to catch the eye of drivers (yikes!), passengers, and pedestrians.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, tagged graffiti, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, wall art, Zaachila, Zimatlán de Lázaro Cárdenas on November 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »
… in Zaachila
and Zimatlán de Lázaro Cárdenas.
I have no idea what they mean… But, who cares?
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Religion, tagged celebrations, cemetery, Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, Días de Muerto, flor inmortal, flowers, Mexico, Oaxaca, panteón, San Antonino Castillo Velasco on November 24, 2011| 1 Comment »
Today is Thanksgiving in los Estados Unidos de América… and besides my wonderful family and friends, I am so grateful to see and experience places like San Antonino Castillo Velasco during los Días de Muertos.
¡Feliz Acción de Gracias a todos!
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Religion, tagged celebrations, cemetery, Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, Días de Muerto, flor inmortal, flowers, Mexico, Oaxaca, panteón, San Antonino Castillo Velasco on November 22, 2011| 2 Comments »
San Antonino Castillo Velasco, a Zapotec community near Ocotlán, is a village known for its flowers. They are, no doubt, the inspiration for beautifully embroidered linens and clothing sold in the mercados and found in museum collections. And, a specialty is the “flor inmortal” (immortal flower), so named because, even when dried, it retains its brilliant colors. They are used to create intricately designed figures on display December 23 in the city of Oaxaca, during Noche de Rábanos and to decorate the graves of loved ones during Días de Muertos in San Antonino.
As I’ve previously mentioned, each village seems to have its own unique traditions for the Days of the Dead. Villagers here mix the area’s very fine dirt with water, cover the graves, use a trowel to smooth it, outline designs and religious imagery into the dried coating, and then use flowers (fresh and dried), to paint the scene. Entire families are involved, young and old, and the atmosphere is filled with joy, purpose, and most of all… Love.
For a very special moment, that is a metaphor the two days spent at San Antonino, see Chris’s post, Moments make a life..
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Holidays, Parks & Plazas, tagged Day of the Dead, Días de Muerto, Mexico, Oaxaca, Plaza de la Danza, sand paintings, tapetes de arena on October 31, 2011| 3 Comments »
The tapetes de arena are finished and cover the stone flooring of the Plaza de la Danza. Always difficult to photograph, the following are an experiment in cropping.
Centro de Educación Artística Miguel Cabrera
Casa de Cultura de Tlacolula de Matamoros
Escuela de Bellas Artes de la Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca
Several other organizations participated and among the unsigned are tapetes de arena from Casa de las Artesanías de Oaxaca, Sociedad Civil de Maestros Oaxaqueños del Arte Popular, and Grupo Colectivo Camaleón.
Walk with us…
And for those in el norte…
A happy and safe Halloween!
Posted in Creativity, Nature & Science, Parks & Plazas, tagged La Luna, Mexico, Moon, Oaxaca, painting, Plaza de la Danza on October 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The crescent moon keeps a watchful eye over the sand paintings in the Plaza de la Danza, by day…
and by night…
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Exhibitions, Holidays, Parks & Plazas, tagged Day of the Dead, Días de Muerto, Mexico, Oaxaca, Plaza de la Danza, sand paintings, tapetes de arena on October 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Work on the Días de Muerto tapetes de arena (sand paintings) began this morning…
By the way, this year they are in the Plaza de la Danza and, as I write, the music of the Orchestra Infantil Libertad (a children’s orchestra) is serenading the completed tapetes de arena, the audience gathered at the Plaza de la Danza, and yours truly, sitting comfortably at her desk.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Holidays, Religion, Restaurants, tagged Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, Días de Muertos, decorations, La Olla, Mexico, Oaxaca, restaurants, skeletons on October 25, 2011| 1 Comment »
Decorations have begun going up around town and, at this time of year, La Olla offers the complete dining experience…
A warm welcome from the hostess.
Waiters standing ready to take your order.
And, una mariposa hanging out, ready to wish you “¡buen provecho!”
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, Primer Festival de Artes Visuales Oaxaca 2011, Puntos de Encuentro, visual arts on October 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Strolling up Macedonio Alcalá on Sunday, I stumbled on an exhibit and workshop being set up in the middle of this walking street, courtesy of Puntos de Encuentro, Primer Festival de Artes Visuales Oaxaca 2011 (Meeting Points, the First Visual Arts Festival, Oaxaca 2011).
Reason number ??? (I’ve lost count) why I love Oaxaca!!!
Posted in Animals, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, tagged alebrije, Mexico, Oaxaca, San Martín Tilcajete on October 10, 2011| 2 Comments »
Yesterday, a couple of gal pals and I headed south of the city to San Martín Tilcajete.
They were in search of alebrijes (hand-carved and intricately painted wooden creatures). We shared the roads…
and the sidewalks with local inhabitants.
With real critters like this, it’s no wonder the carvers and painters of San Martín Tilcajete are inspired to imagine and create the beautiful and fanciful.
I hadn’t planned to buy anything, but couldn’t resist a colibrí refrigerator magnet, to add to my growing collection of hummingbirds… both real and imagined!
While there, we discovered San Martín Tilcajete will be holding an exposition at the end of the month to showcase, promote, and (hopefully) sell Oaxacan folk art.
In addition, the Oaxaca Lending Library will be presenting a slide show on Oaxacan Folk Art on October 26.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, parade, Teotitlán del Valle, wall art on October 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Hanging out In Teotitlán del Valle…
On a rainy day…
Waiting for a parade to pass me by…
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Labor, Protests, tagged IAGO, Instituto des Artes Gráficas, Mexico, Oaxaca, Rini Templeton on August 4, 2011| 1 Comment »
Currently, the Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca is exhibiting the work of Rini Templeton; three rooms of her iconic work. For those who may not be familiar with the name, there is a good reason…
For 20 years an extraordinary artist-activist named Rini Templeton drew struggles of grassroots people in the United States, Mexico and Central America. She made thousands of drawings, didn’t sign them and gave them away freely, so her name remains unknown while her work is widely known, used and loved. [Read full biography at RiniArt.org]
As the former director of a labor library and archive, the exhibition kindled so many wonderful memories of this talented, committed, and inspiring woman’s work.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, tagged Cathedral, Guelaguetza, Mexico, Oaxaca, sound and light show on July 26, 2011| 2 Comments »
Last night I, along with thousands of others, gathered on the Alameda, with eyes gazing upwards at the “espectáculo” being projected on the facade of the Cathedral.
Three projectors allowed alebrijes to march across the front of the Cathedral, tapetes to hang from the rooftop, and tin ornaments to be displayed, as if they were on a wall in a mercado waiting to be purchased. Buildings collapsed and were rebuilt, vines reclaimed a pyramid, and so much more. It was accompanied by music familiar to anyone who has spent more than a day in Oaxaca. And, at the end, Flor de Piña was heard as fireworks erupted over the Cathedral.
And so, for whatever role they may have played, my hat is off to the two guys hanging around in their hammocks, mentioned in my July 20 and July 24 posts. The Sinfonía de Luz y Sonido was, indeed spectacular!
Rumor has it that it is being streamed, though I haven’t discovered the link as yet. If I find it, I promise to add it to this post.
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 
