The Colors of Oaxaca Part 2

thus the story begins of what we made in our the colors of oaxaca workshop!  it begins with the true story behind these two mixed media hearts by susan halme made for mary stanley and colleen darling.  you see, two of our three hosts had broken their wrists within days of each other prior to our workshop. susan found these arm milagros in oaxaca and cleverly made each of them a cast.  

susan and colleen, loved these sisters.  their surname suits them to perfection=darling.

kaari meng of french general was part of our group and, using her usual french general colors, assembled this beautiful mixed media necklace.

molly's necklace

and beautiful molly

here is my necklace, whipped up speedily since, as i mentioned in my last post, we spent more time out of the classroom than in.  by the fourth day, realizing i had made nothing, i decided to sit out the excursions to the zocalo and surroundings, quietly stitching away by myself in the studio.  within a few hours i was able to begin the necklace and almost complete a mini fabric collage.

i tried to stay within the theme of the colors of oaxaca.  

As did edith of renaissance ribbons with her necklace adding some of the orient into the mix.

but this is not about me.  The comraderie we had was so pure, translucent, flowing like a crystalline stream towards that ocean of sisterhood that it will be hard to forget.  

mini purse by mary price of art from scrap.  red is a difficult color to photograph so this in reality is much more dramatic.

mary price's teenage daughter also jumped in and came up with these clever bows.

i loved pamela's tassle

we also got to play a bit with indigo dyeing.

although not part of the group, i quickly adopted ellen benson.  remember, the raconteur par excellance....she has since stayed in touch with the most hilarious emails. 

mary stanley's self portrait doll

saying goodbye was not easy.....

letting new friends fly back to their distant nests seems quite unfair.  but i know in my heart, we are still holding each other dear as is shown in this farewell garland we made for the casa.  it is customary for all workshops that take place there leave a bit of soul on one of the casa walls.

bye bye amigas

i will never forget you

two weeks have gone by since my return....

and although a bit down got straight work on a tiny french-knotted heart copied from one susan wore one day.  it has since been gifted to my daughter's co-worker louise.

I have stitched and stitched; still inspired by all fibre and fabric artists.

Oaxaca.....I SHALL RETURN

The Colors of Oaxaca. Part One

this will be a story in two parts; one about what captivated me in oaxaca, the second about what we actually made at the workshop.

i'm not much of a raconteur as ellen benson sure was at the casa, but i'm sure the photos of my recent trip to oaxaca will give you a pretty good picture of why it is a MUST VISIT city.  no wonder it has been named Patrimonio de la Humanidad.

9 days at The Colors of Oaxaca Workshop at Casa Colonial: 14 women, each an artist in their own right sharing what turned out to be a trip of a
lifetime! at least for me.

everything ran so smoothly, we all got along, we all learned so much from each other and the city.  it was sunny, warm and welcoming and definitely colorful. sidewalks filled with colorful shops and markets, narrow cobblestone streets with colorful painted houses, street vendors dressed in typical folklore.

our casa....a colonial house owned by jane robeson, an american expat who fell in love with Oaxaca 30 years ago and never left.

this was to be the setting for our workshop.

little did we know that we would end up spending more time out of the classroom than in; the city being so captivating that we would catch up on our needlework at night. well that's if gloria's margaritas didn't keep us, which they often did.  these are my best memories, sitting around that leather table and chairs with kick and kaari and molly talking away and ellen arriving just in time when the margaritas had kicked in to make us roar with laughter with stories of her travels and her one of a kind artwork.

how could you not have fun, roarious fun, with a woman like this?

you see, there was just too much to see and mary and syd and colleen had filled our days with excursions and lunches and dyeing sessions.  

so off we went to teotitlan to learn about the natural dye made from the cochinil and indigo dyes made from local wild flowers. 

photo by kaari meng 

amy at teotitlan

molly, kick, mary, amy and edith at the zocalo

syd, ellen and carol

molly's farewell speech

susan halme, myself, kick and molly meng

note how we are all dressed in mexican tops

in nine days, we only touched the surface...of oaxaca and of each other.  it is a city to move to if one were brave enough to take a sabattical.  i fell in love for a second time in spite of the disappointment of my favorite restaurant being gone (como agua para chocolate) and the strudel at my favorite coffee shop obviously being made by a new cook.

but in its place, la casa de la abuela

and so many other edible options.

everywhere you look in Oaxaca, there is art.

in the churches

in the fabric and textiles

kaari in her very french general colors

in the architecture

and the decor

and just in how everything is presented 

i just kept taking it all in

original frida kahlo letter at MUFA

a few of the things i brought back with me

the truth is there is so much more to tell, so many more pictures to share.  i have tried as best to give you a feel for what my eyes and senses relished.

Stay tuned for part two about our accomplishments in textile which, as always, is a work in progress.