My Month in Oaxaca

Every year I love it more.

Supporting local artisans.

Visiting new villages (Ocotlan).

Haunting the local markets.

Connecting with our friends Juanita and her daughter Norma, above.

And Juanita's other daughter, Lucy, here grinding corn for the tlayudas.

Doing lots of walking on the colorful, sunny streets.

Finding a beautiful huipil at a bargain price.

Eating fresh.

Studying and reading.

Getting our pictures taken at the textile museum.

Catching lots of exhibitions.

Admiring the details of old buildings.

Green stone from the local quarry is why they call it the Jade City.

And I think those are angels in the blue, blue sky.

New huaraches that only pinch a little bit. 

Old friends.

Good food.

Was anything difficult?

Why yes. I had the flu for a week and came out of it with a broken eardrum. 

It's on the mend - no worries.

John at Monte Alban.

Saw these cuties watching cartoons on their iPhone.

Fabulous art.

And more fabulous art.

Rode around Zaachila in a tuk tuk.

And John's sister Judy and her family came and spent several weeks with us.

That's her above. She lives in Denver.

More old structures.

This brilliant artist's name is Ramon Sanmiguel. His drawings were so life like it was amazing.

Walked miles and miles through the big Ocotlan market.

And had parties with friends.

It was good.

While I was there I did a lot of painting.

Even through my sick days.

With Politec acrylics. 

Those are Mexican paints with a matte surface.

I love the dry, flat surface.

Plus I took charcoal and a few oil pastels.

I actually painted more than these but will continue to work on a few.

The desert-y palette is because I only had a few colors of paint.

Every day I would spend the morning getting some work done.

Now on Thursday, in four more days, I leave to teach in Mexico City.

And yes, I can't wait. I'm ready for a second helping. 

By the way, just a reminder that we still have a few slots to fill in our Bali Adventure. 

Sue just bought her air ticket today and the fare was very reasonable. Go here to read all about what we'll be doing in Bali and by all means join us if you can. It's going to be the memory of a lifetime.

Permission

I did it. Averaged one 12x12" painting a day from my last post until today.

Something inside me has clicked.

I have permission.

I dont have to like every one.

YOU dont have to like every one.

I'm just going to keep going.

Searching.

I've never felt more excited.

Doing What I Do

I'm reading and painting. I started with Gerhard Richter's "The Daily Practice of Painting". It's the perfect book if you need permission to trust your gut. I keep looking for the absolute answers in regards to what is good, how I can improve. Gerhard will strip all that away. He has so many opinions about art and painters that by the end of the book I was ready to throw out all theory and just paint. Whew! I needed that. Thank you, Gerhard.

I have less than 2 weeks before returning to Oaxaca. In that time I vow to paint every day. I'll post them here. Every painting is a brave experiment. I'll be the first to confess that painting is scary and that I am self critical. So it's a wrestle with myself to get anything out at all.

What would make me happy is to think that my courage could give you the courage to explore as well. I had a great conversation with a friend this week who confessed that she wont even start because she is so self critical and perfectionistic. 

That's the enemy. That voice in your head. 

Challenge it. Don't let it stop you.

xo

Lisa Pressman and Elise Wagner Workshop

I had the good fortune this past week to attend a 4 day workshop with 2 accompished artists; Lisa Pressman and Elise Wagner. 

Jersey Girls.

We started off with mark making and monotype.

Each student had a unique way of doing the exercises.

After working awhile in black and white we added color.

Here Lisa demonstrates her painting approach. 

She paints fast and loose as she lays down the initial layers of cold wax and pigment sticks. 

In the evenings part of the group would meet to continue the painting exploration over food and adult beverages. I had such great class mates; it really added to the enjoyment of the experience.

This is my work area showing some of the initial stages.

And these are the paintings that I brought home. 

I learned so much during the critiques.

 

We all met at Butters Gallery on the last day where Lisa and Elise are showing their work. 

(I highly recommend seeing this show if you can.)  

We watched slides and had discussions, asked questions, shared information.

Lisa standing in front of one of her mixed media oil paintings.

 And my favorite of Elise's paintings above. 

After the last day of class we met at a local pub for a final unwinding and summing up. It was hard for me to say good-bye to these wonderful friends. All of us passionate about painting, improving, creating in our unique languages. 

Participating in the mystery, the alchemy. The best. 

The Blues

I'm still in the dye pot. My sink is blue, my gloves are blue, my drop cloths are blue, my finger tips are blue. And needle-poked. What's amazing is that blue has never been my color before now.

So many of you wrote to me that you loved reading about my trip to Bali.
That you hoped I would return there and teach a dyeing class. 

That we should all go back together and have a big Indigo Adventure.

So I invited my textile savvy colleague Sue Stover to join me along with the extraordinary tour planners Kathie Vezzani and Michel Fletcher to make this happen. 

If you've been on one of Kathie's tours you know this means we'll be staying in a lovely setting and eating the excellent food as well as experiencing the best that Ubud has to offer in the way of art and culture. And shopping. While I was in Bali in October Michel took me to all her favorite shopping stalls and introduced me to some awesome massage experiences; she is comfortable and easy with the locals and a world traveler who makes me feel safe, cared for and keeps me laughing.

We'll offer classes where you can experiment with various shibori techniques.

Attend a workshop where you'll get to experience batiking with javanese metal stamps.

Stay in a beautiful setting and have cultural excursions.

And use our indigo creations in a final project; among them making a book or stitching sashiko.

Our dates are September 12-19, 2015. 

We are excited and planning to make this a memory of a lifetime.

Contact Kathie Vezzani for more photographs and details.

We'd love to have you join us to share this amazing experience.

And I'll close this post with a photograph of our new winter blooming camellia which is covered with fragrant pink blossoms in this current cold weather. Spring will come. 

Namaste.