Happy New Year 2015 — Feliz Año Nuevo From Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
For the past five weeks I’ve been recovering from knee replacement surgery, first in North Carolina with dear friends who took great care of me, and then in Santa Cruz, California with my family. I returned to Casita Alegria on December 30, just in time to celebrate another New Year’s Eve birthday with intimate friends […]
Looking for Frida Kahlo + Diego Rivera: Art History Tour 2015
Come to Mexico City for an art history tour to explore the lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera through their art. 2015 Schedule April 9 – 13, 2015 We will have a long weekend — 4 nights and 5 days, to learn about Diego Rivera‘s stunning Mexico City murals, visit Casa Azul where Diego and Frida […]
More About Mexico City: Museums
For the past week, before returning today to North Carolina for knee replacement surgery next week, I have been in Mexico City where some of the world’s best museums are found. I added on two days on my own before we started our fifth Looking for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Art History Study Tour […]
Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca: Day of the Dead Cemetery Before Dark
Before the crowds descend on the cemetery, before the tour buses and vans arrive, before the photographers with strobe flash and tripods begin their crawl among the gravesites at dusk, I arrive in Xoxocotlan. Marta and Citlalli are with me today. It is the perfect time, the magic hour between day and night, when there […]
Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead: Schedule and Photography Retrospective
Only four more days until the official start of Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca, Mexico. Everyone is lining up their calendars to watch comparsas, visit cemeteries and participate as locals honor the return to earth of their loved ones and then escort them back to their graves with the scent of copal and flowers. […]
Pop-Up Show + Sale — Huipils from San Felipe Usila, October 28, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Pop-Up Huipil Show and Sale from San Felipe Usila at Restaurante La Olla, Calle Reforma #402, Oaxaca, Centro Historico in front of Las Bugambilias B&B Tuesday, October 28, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. — One day only I must confess that I left two great huipiles behind in San Felipe Usila and I’ve been ruminating […]
Tuxtepec, Oaxaca: Huipils, Dance of the Pineapple Flower and Guelaguetza
Oaxaca’s July Guelaguetza features some of the most glorious traje — indigenous dress — throughout the state. But few, if any, surpass the beauty from the state of Tuxtepec. I am on a textile tour to discover the artistry of some of Oaxaca’s most remote villages. The evening our group arrives in Tuxtepec from […]
Dancing on the Zocalo, Veracruz, Mexico
The Zocalo, or town square, is the center of community life in Mexico. Here in Veracruz, on Friday and Saturday nights, the band starts playing at seven in the evening and dancers take to the pavement to strut their stuff. We hear tell that they go long into the night. Our hotel is right across […]
Street Life, Veracruz, Mexico
We are walking down a Veracruz street with guide Martin and I had this sudden feeling that I could be in Havana, Cuba. I’ve never been to Havana. But it’s a port town like this one, facing an unrelenting ocean and assaulted with the same kind of weather that beats up beautiful buildings so that […]
San Juan del Rio, Oaxaca: Mezcal on the Mountain
We didn’t start out planning a trip to San Juan del Rio, Oaxaca. It just happened as we moved into the day. Friend Sheri Brautigam, textile designer, collector and Living Textiles of Mexico blogger, is visiting me. After a roundabout through the Teotitlan del Valle morning market, we headed out to San Pablo Villa de […]
Mystery of Muertos in Oaxaca, Mexico
You may have noticed that I changed the blog banner to a night-time Oaxaca, Mexico, Day of the Dead cemetery scene. Rituals are ancient, family-centered and mystical. Dia de los Muertos will start at the end of October and continue through November 3 this year. In Teotitlan del Valle, the traditional November 2 cemetery ritual […]
Sunrise From New Mexico and California Berries
On a pre-dawn Wednesday this week, I was on a plane from Albuquerque to Denver with a connection to San Francisco. It was dark at take-off. The lights of the city sparkled against the black desert that met obscure sky. On the vast horizon I could see shapes of mountains and the lights of Santa […]
Labor Day and Saludos From Taos, New Mexico
We have this last 3-day holiday weekend of summer, Labor Day to honor the United States of America labor movement and workers around the world. As I look out onto panoramic scene of the Rio Grande River Gorge from my friends’ home on a high mesa outside of Taos, New Mexico, I think about the advocacy and […]
Art History Tour: Mexican Muralism, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Mexico City
The Mexican Muralists, and especially the art of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo are the focus of our Mexico City Art History Tour: Looking for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Arrive on November 13 and depart on November 17. This intensive study tour takes you into off-the-beaten path public art spaces and those that are more popular […]
One Day in Capulalpam de Mendez: Oaxaca’s Pueblo Magico
High in Oaxaca’s Sierra Juarez, the mountain range to the east of Oaxaca city that borders the state of Veracruz, nestles Capulalpam de Mendez, one of Mexico’s Pueblo Magicos. The village is terraced into the mountainside and the views are breathtaking. Indeed, the altitude can take your breath away at almost 8,000 feet (2,350 meters, […]
Guelaguetza 2014 Photo Out-takes — Oaxaca Folkloric Fesitval Dazzles Crowd
It’s more like a party than a traditional performance. Oaxaca’s annual Guelaguetza folkloric festival draws crowds from throughout Mexico and all over the world. If you hang around the stage at the end while most of the crowds leave, you might be handed a small cane cup filled with mezcal and get a close-up […]
Oaxaca’s Guelaguetza 2014 Thrills Crowds, Still Controversial
Tickets to sit close to Oaxaca’s Guelaguetza Auditorium stage are costly, about $100 USD per person. Up high in the upper galleries, the seats are free and people start lining up hours in advance of the opening to be able to capture one. The controversy lies in the accessibility to this annual folkloric performance […]
Oaxaca Show & Sale, July 25-26: To Benefit Artisans and Artists at Las Bugambilias B&B
Tlacolula Meanderings: Play, Parking Tickets and No Where In Particular
One of my favorite past-times is the Sunday Tlacolula market. I never tire of it. There is always something new, different, another point-of-view. This week there were strange flowers that looked like lollipops, plus fuzzy rambutans for eating. Last Sunday, I parked on the street not attending to the “no parking” sign, which I didn’t […]
Oaxaca Art + Archeology with Chiapas Add-On: Study Tour with Penland School of Crafts
Travel and learn with Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC in collaboration with Penland School of Crafts, one of the foremost centers for art and craft education in the United States. This is an unparalleled opportunity to study folk art, craft and contemporary art of Oaxaca, with an option to extend your time to explore San Cristobal […]
Oaxaca Faces: Photographs Up Close and Personal
Yesterday, Janet and I went to Cafe Brujula (the compass), a great little spot on Garcia Virgil that roasts its own beans. This before she went off to work in the morning, and I went out and about for a day filled with errands. Some debate which is better, Cafe Brujula or Nuevo Mundo. You will […]
Rain Torrents and New Priest in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
The heavens opened yesterday afternoon to welcome a new priest to Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. Perhaps, the ancient Zapotecs, in their infinite wisdom, said a special prayer for the rain god, too. It is corn-planting season. The torrents came just as the celebration was to begin in the church courtyard, starting with a procession […]
Mexico City in Summer Rain
Each afternoon this time of year, around four or five o’clock, the rains start. They can last about thirty minutes, sometimes even an hour or more, and are occasionally accompanied by thunderstorms. People here are prepared. They carry umbrellas. Or, they have a late lunch-early dinner, as is the custom, and hang out in […]
PR Web Features 2014 Day of the Dead Photography Workshop Tour
Michael Stone, senior strategist at Novom Marketing Inc., a California-based travel and leisure marketing and public relations company serving a worldwide client-base, is working with me to feature the upcoming Day of the Dead Photography Workshop Tour. READ ABOUT WHAT THEY SAY HERE! Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC Hosts Day of the Dead Photography Workshop Tour Set […]
Sunset at Las Cuevitas: Rare Green Flash in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
I recently learned that green flash is a rare phenomenon that occurs at sunset in a clear atmosphere, usually captured looking west over the Pacific Ocean. (It can happen at sunrise, too.) I was looking west into a clear sky on January 1, 2014, when I took this photograph at the Las Cuevitas celebration in Teotitlan […]
People of Oaxaca: Portrait Photography Workshop
Arrive Friday, January 30 and leave Friday, February 6, 2015. Options to arrive earlier and stay longer! You and any camera you have are welcome! Creating a great photographic portrait means how to connect with your subject, source natural light, and apply aesthetic judgment. Whether you are taking amateur photographs of family, friends, or interesting people […]
Matt Nager’s Photos Capture Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Matt Nager came to Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, from Denver, Colorado, to teach a portrait photography workshop through Oaxaca Cultural Navigator two years ago. He left with some stunning images of people, the weaving process, and a sense of place. Matt’s photographs of Teotitlan appear in The Week, an on-line news source. You can see the […]
Uriel and Rosalia’s Zapotec Wedding, Oaxaca, Mexico
The church wedding is an important part of Zapotec community life. Often, a couple will have a civil marriage ceremony and begin their family as Rosalia and Uriel did three years ago. Their dream will be to save enough to hold a religious service that recognizes their marriage in the eyes of God. Their young children […]
Day of the Dead Photography, Oaxaca, Workshop Tour 2014 with Frank Hunter
Oaxaca, Mexico, is famous for its Day of the Dead celebrations. You experience it and capture it for a lifetime of memories! This is cultural immersion travel photography at its best! Arrive Monday, October 27, depart Tuesday, November 4— 9 days, 8 nights, starting at $1,895 per person. Limited to 8 participants. Small Group. Personal Attention. […]
Color Intensity of Natural Dyes from Oaxaca Sources
Today I changed the banner of the blog to give you a picture of the range of intense colors we got from the natural dye workshop we just completed with Eric Chavez Santiago. Eric is one of Mexico’s most knowledgeable dye masters and his techniques include how to extract the color without wasting it. We […]