Tag Archives: blogsherpa

Happy Holidays, Discounts and Taking a Break

Posted on Monday, December 10, 2012 | 4 comments

Felices fiestas de la temporada: Hanukkah feliz, feliz Navidad y feliz Año Nuevo. Happy celebrations of the season! I am in Santa Cruz, California now and will have lunch today with Debbie Mayfield and Bella Jacque, two Day of the Dead Photography Expedition participants. Bella is coming back to Oaxaca in February with her sister to take the Felted Fashion Workshop with Jessica de Haas and Eric Chavez Santiago.

In celebration of the season and five years of Oaxaca Cultural Navigator blogging, I am offering a

15% discount on all workshops scheduled through August 2013 — when you register by December 25, 2012. (Except Felted Fashion Workshop.) Gift Certificates available. Tell me you want the discount when you register.

Tonight, there will be a Oaxaca Trunk Show at my sister’s home. I had a very successful show in Atlanta last week (thanks to Kim Drader Noeltner and Robin Blocker who hosted) and still have some great “leftovers.” When I get back to North Carolina next weekend, I’ll be offering more as part of Shop Mexico: Artisan Sisters. So stay tuned.

Then, I’ll be taking a blogging break until 2013! Maybe, I’ll post something if it’s important enough to share.

Enjoy the season — and let’s honor its universal reminder to hope and pray for a peaceful world, well-being and good health care for all. Let us practice compassion, generosity, understanding and forgiveness. Our time here on this earth is finite. Let’s make the most of it!

Abrazos fuerte, Norma

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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Travel & Tourism

Tagged blogsherpa, fiber, Mexico, Oaxaca, textiles, workshops

Young Oaxaca Weavers Honored and Encouraged

Posted on Thursday, December 6, 2012 | Comments Off

Faye Sims, a textile friend from Salt Spring Island, Vancouver, BC shared a blog story today about the new exhibition at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca and I wanted to pass the gist of it on to you! The story refers to Eric Chavez Santiago, our close family friend and we are incredibly proud of his accomplishments to preserve the textile traditions of Oaxaca. When I was in Oaxaca recently Eric was spending most of his time traveling to the remote mountainous regions to film documentary footage about young weavers, many of them as young as eight years old. He traveled with noted textile curator Remigio Mestas. Then when Eric returned to Oaxaca he spent most evenings and weekends this autumn in the office editing to produce a final video in time for the November 10 opening. The show runs through March 2013.

Eric is also teaching a private 2-day natural dye workshop in Teotitlan, January 21-22, 2013. If you are interested please contact me. We will be working with cochineal, indigo, wild marigold, moss, and more!

New from Oaxaca Cultural Navigator

FELTED FASHION WORKSHOP with Jessica de Haas & Eric Chavez Santiago
February 2-9, 2013
3 spaces left! Dye merino wool with natural materials, then design and sew your own felted garment using indigenous Mexican textile patterns.
Jessica is a fashion designer from Granville Island, Vancouver, BC, Canada

I hope you’ll go to the textile museum’s websiteto read more about this extraordinary exhibit.

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Posted in Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving

Tagged blogsherpa, education, fiber, Mexico, Oaxaca, textiles

Day of the Dead Photo Out-Takes: Part 2 + Recipe Quest

Posted on Tuesday, December 4, 2012 | Comments Off

Traveling with a group of people you don’t know ahead of time could be risky for those who are independent and like to go off on their own to discover the world. We found our companions who participated in the Day of the Dead Photography Expedition 2012 to be muy amable! We shared interests, took time for ourselves and came together to learn and discuss. We all had some good laughs with each other and at ourselves, too.

Here, Deby Thompson (left) and Helene Haviland (right) brought their tripods to the Zocalo to practice before we went off for an all-evening night shoot at the Xoxocotlan cemetery the following night.

The style of our instructor Bill Bamberger (left) is relaxed and informal. He offered coaching sessions on the hoof, and here Mark Pollard and Bill strolled through the archeological site of Monte Alban together as Bill advised Mark, a very accomplished professional photographer, about ways he could build and organize his portfolio. To the right is Erin Loughran at Yagul archeological site determining which shot she wants to take.

Several of us stayed an additional day to explore Yagul and Mitla, two major archeological sites in the Tlacolula valley. To the left, Bella, Erin and Helene posed for a photo in the shade of a 900 CE structure with Mixtec-Zapotec carvings at Mitla. To the right, Helene showed us her clock, which she pulled out on many occasion to show street vendors that she didn’t have time to shop, she was running late. They were speechless and she was able to walk away, no muss, no fuss, no bother.

Yagul is a stunning archeological site about 20 minutes south of Teotitlan del Valle off the Pan American Highway. There has been intensive restoration there during the past six years and the views are amazing. Here Kathy Heath is concentrating on getting from one magnificent spot to another.

Above, Bella Jacque sitting on the edge of a pyramid base at Yagul.

Helene and Bella at Yagul, where caves, windswept cactus, flowering acacia trees, and ancient rocks draw us to wonder about life in Mexico over 1,000 years ago.

And here we are hanging around under cover from the rain in Xoxocotlan, with Bill demonstrating a camera technique to Liz Thomas.

I took this portrait of Bill Bamberger early in the week of our workshop together. I just loved how the light falls on his face. To the right is Bella Jacque modeling a traditional indigenous rebozo from Tenancingo at the Sunday Tlacolula market, where we went after the visits to Yagul and Mitla.

It was a nicer day by the time we got to Teotitlan del Valle. Bella is trying to figure out directions with the self-guided tour map I give to each participant.

After the workshop finished and I returned to North Carolina, Deby Thompson (right) and I got together with weaver Lynn Pownell in Durham at Dos Perros Mexican Restaurant. They made us a delicious tamarind mezcal margarita, a close rival to the excellent Oaxaca versions at Cafe San Pablo and Los Danzantes. I am on a quest for the perfect tamarind mezcal margarita. Does anyone out there have a recipe to share? Anyone know Rick Bayless’ Tamarind Mezcal Margarita recipe?

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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Photography, Travel & Tourism

Tagged blogsherpa, day of the dead, Mexico, Oaxaca, photography, recipe, tamarind mezcal margarita

Out-Takes Part I: Day of the Dead Photography Workshop

Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2012 | 2 comments

First the disclosure: Everyone whose likeness appears here has agreed to have these sometimes embarrassing, revealing and funny photos published on OCN. We think a good laugh at ourselves is healthy. These are personal photos we took of each other during the Day of the Dead Photography Expedition in October-November 2012 that didn’t make it (not even close) into the Best of Week category.

First up is Helene Haviland who was caught tasting her first chapulines.

Followed by (above right) “Who is behind that screen door?” It must be Connie Jo! We are going to tattle on Erin Loughran. She arrived without her tripod. Had it all ready and forgot to pack it. While we were on the streets photographing, Erin was searching for a tripod in Oaxaca to fit her camera (below, left). We caught Debbie Mayfield (above right) hunkered down on the floor with the wool at the studio of the Chavez Santiago Family Weavers. She was wrapped up in the blue wool for at least an hour. Liz Thomas had a thing for wool, too. Hiding under the skeins seemed to be her preference. Or perhaps the desire for a new hair-do. And our instructor, photographer Bill Bamberger had a little wool on his face after three days of being free of the razor. Okay, enough of that theme. On to the mezcal. Here we have Bella Jacque and Deby Thompson at a mezcal tasting, with Helene there, too, but behind the camera. They had a great time.

Liz (left), it turns out, bought a $6 bottle of mezcal to share at the Xoxo cemetery. It was cold and rainy. Great excuse, huh? You might guess what happened next. On our second night in Oaxaca, Debbie and Doug Mayfield high-tailed it to the Zocalo to learn how to use their cameras at night and practice with the tripod. This was in preparation for our Xoxocotlan cemetery photography shoot.

No sooner had we arrived at the cemetery than it started to rain. Umbrellas sold out in a matter of rain drops. My only option was an XL garbage bag that cost 5 pesos. Snapped it right up and joined the Mayfields at the corner comedor. Stylish, wouldn’t you say? Our neighbor at the next table invited us all to join in with a sip of mezcal. They loved the outfit. Thanks to Helene for getting this shot!

Helene hunkered under a shawl (she later found one of the last umbrellas) and bought an offering of marigolds to give as a gift to a family cleaning and decorating a grave.

Later in the week, a few of us went to Yagul for archeological exploration, a favorite pastime of Connie (below) who was trained in the field.

More to come with Second Set Out-Takes. Stay tuned.

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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Photography

Tagged blogsherpa, day of the dead, Mexico, Oaxaca, photography

Celebrating Five Years of Blog Writing: Oaxaca Cultural Navigator

Posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 | 2 comments

On November 28, 2007, I started a free WordPress.com blog and posted my first essay there about visiting, traveling and intending to live in Oaxaca, Mexico. Two years earlier, using iWeb on my Apple computer and the clunky URL web.mac.com/normahawthorne/iWeb/ [defunct, not searchable, remember those days], I started my original blog. However no one could find me! So, technically, I’ve been writing this blog for seven years!

Writing regularly is an act of commitment, love of place, and desire to share the experience. I want to mark this anniversary and share with you now what I published on November 28, 2007. I didn’t take as many photos then and most weren’t of publishable quality. Then, I was more interested in the narrative. The times they are a-changin’ — let’s celebrate!

5- Year Celebration Sale with Discount — Good Until December 25, 2012.

Take 15% off any workshop offered through August 1, 2013 (except Felted Fashion Workshop).

Take 15% off any Shop Mexico-Artisan Sisters Items still available.

Tell me you want the Celebration Discount!

Reposted from November 28, 2007: Navigating with Norma

An explanation: Navigating Oaxaca (pronounced Wah-Hah-Kah), Mexico, is a cultural arts and history experience that requires a certain sense of exploration, discovery and adventure. For me, it is going without a roadmap down the back alleys of a small village to see what I will discover next: a master weaver, an exceptional wood-carver, an accomplished potter or expressive painter. I am open to the experience of creating relationship by appreciating artistic creativity, cultural history, shared values and vision, and the possibility for multicultural exchange. After four visits of several weeks each over the past two years, and an invitation from Federico Chavez Sosa and his family to live with them in Teotitlan del Valle, I begin to call myself “cultural navigator.”

This blog is a way for me to share my experiences with you with the hope that it will excite your interest to visit this extraordinary place and appreciate the rich artistic and cultural traditions of Mexican immigrants. There are great artisans who live on the back alleyways, don’t show up in the tourist guide books, and aren’t willing to pay hefty commissions to have tour guides and tour buses pulling up to their front door. I am motivated to support fair trade so that 100% of tourist dollars go directly to the families who actually create the art.

In the next weeks, we will be preparing to return to Oaxaca through the winter holidays. There will be Posadas and fireworks. The ancient fife player will lead the village band in a Sousa march. Farmers will herd cattle and sheep through the streets. The guacalotes will chortle and the donkey next door will bray at sunrise. We will hike to the reservoir along the river through the bamboo and cactus forest, beyond us Picacho rises above the 6,000 foot plateau with a promise of a new archeological discovery. We will eat handmade tamales con pollo y salsa Coloradito with fresh nopales, and the adventure will begin anew.

Then and Now

Then, blog posts were mostly prose and a few poorly executed photographs
There was no Wikipedia and little reference content to link to — I couldn’t make links happen with iWeb
I was really happy to get 30 or 40 page views a day and an occasional comment
Now, we get 500-600+ page views a day; our top day this year was over 1,800 page views. That’s great for us!
Organizing workshops based in Oaxaca was the flicker of a dream
There was no financial way to support the blog writing
In 2010, I migrated over to a self-hosted WordPress.org website and finally figured out how to use Google ads [last year I netted a whopping $100USD using Google Adsense]
And, then, when we launched a diversified workshop schedule in 2010, I figured out how to use PayPal
Now as then, I’m still a one-person Oaxaca Cultural Navigator band, performing all instruments solo [oh, I should say, sola]
And, I speak much better Spanish, though it could be a whole lot better 🙂