Oaxaca Street Life and Re-Entry
On Monday, despite bumping around a bit in the sky atop the last remnants of a tropical storm that painted a picturesque landscape of layered clouds as we came in for a landing, I arrived in Oaxaca. Re-entry was easy. I’m always grateful to pick up my luggage from the conveyor belt after passing through […]
Southwest Road Trip: The Last Trading Posts
We wanted to call this The Trading Post Tour! We went to five. In the mid-1800’s and well into the early 20th century, there were more than 300 trading posts dotting southwest United States of America tribal lands, mostly in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, where Native Peoples lived. Usually owned by Anglos, they were […]
Travel Tips: How to Safely Pack Mezcal, Pottery for the Trip Home
It’s been some years since I wrote about how I pack mezcal bottles, pottery and other fragile artisan crafts to take back to the USA after my stay in Oaxaca. For the most part, I can claim 99.5% success that all will arrive undamaged. Only once, did a plate arrive broken! Basically, what I do […]
Bargain Shopping and Cheap Eats in Oaxaca
Is it possible to find and buy high quality textiles in Oaxaca at bargain prices? That was my question yesterday as Chris and I returned to Oaxaca city for her last day here on this visit. She loves to shop at thrift stores and on sale. I do, too, but I’m always on a quest […]
Oaxaca City Textile Collector’s Tour
We’ve just added this new day tour to our menu of workshops and tours. It is designed to give textile collectors, retailers, wholesalers, fashionistas, and aficionados exclusive access! Different and more specialized than any of our other one-day textile experiences, we take you into the homes and studios of some of the finest weavers and […]
Encore! San Juan Colorado, Oaxaca, Textile Sale Notice
This will be the last sale from this cooperative for a while. Perhaps until Christmas. I’m not sure. In fact, no more sales until mid-October when I will have more blouses coming from Chiapas and a few more rugs from Oaxaca. Shop Opens Friday, September 11, 12 Noon ET Tomorrow, Friday, September 11, I will […]
To the Villages with Shuko–Backroads Oaxaca
Shuko Clouse is here. She opened Mano del Sur recently, a beautiful online shop that combines her Japanese aesthetic — simplicity and quality — with Mexican handcraft excellence. Shuko came to Oaxaca to restock the shop. She takes her time. She curates each item. She meets the makers and engages with them. She holds an […]
In Japan, Searching for Blue Indigo (Ai-zome)
My quest for Japanese indigo fabrics and clothing took us to remote villages and high-end designer boutiques. I searched old kimono stacked in department store corners and flea market stalls. In the old Geisha district of Gion, two vintage textile shops offer 100+ year-old pieces in varying condition. I traveled from Tokyo to Kyoto to […]
Post-Thanksgiving Oaxaca Jewelry + Clothing Extravaganza
I’m going to the US for an impromptu short visit before the Winter Holidays, returning to Oaxaca on December 24. Need a couple of routine exams. No worries. So, I’m offering this pre-sale. Buy it now and I’ll bring it with me and mail by December 15. 18 Items. Just-in-time unique gifts, all made by […]
To Bargain or Not in Mexico?
The on-going discussion endures about whether one bargains in Mexico with vendors for a lower price. Is it a cultural norm or expectation? Many say, Yes. Others resist for obvious reasons. Why? The exchange rate is in favor of Europeans, Estadounidenses (those from USA) and Canadienses (those from Canada). Mexicans have always been undervalued for […]
A Bunch of Earrings and a Necklace: Jewelry Sale
I’m back in North Carolina for a while and I’m going through my 20+ year treasure collection. The pieces I’m offering for sale today are jewelry from the bygone years, an eclectic mix of “needed for professional life” or an “artistic point-of-view” that no longer fits my lifestyle. I’ll be listing an eclectic mix of […]
Eclectic Jewelry and Folk Art Collection Sale, August 11, 2017
I’m back in North Carolina for a while and it’s time to go through my collection of Mexican folk art, jewelry and contemporary American art pieces. I’m beginning to consider what I no longer use or wear and offer them for sale to you. I’ll be listing an eclectic mix of pieces over the next […]
Sunday Tlacolula Market Meander Map For Sale
It’s Sunday in the Oaxaca Valley. Time to spend the day at the amazing Tlacolula Market. Located about 45 minutes from Oaxaca City on the Carretera Nacional–Mexico 190–between Teotitlan del Valle and Mitla, the market is the biggest and IMHO, the best in the region. I suggest you get there by 11 a.m. and stay […]
India Journal: New Delhi Textile Shopping Guide
New Delhi is a whirlwind city filled with honking cars, traffic congestion, auto rickshaws that zoom in and out inches from the next vehicle and an efficient, safe metro system. I never saw an accident but thought we would surely collide on multiple occasions. Traffic lanes do not exist although the roads are marked. On a […]
India Journal: Top Artisans at Nature Bazaar
Nature Bazaar is an effort by the Delhi Department of Tourism to bring the best artisans from throughout India to the city for permanent exhibition. Or, let me say, the space is permanent and the artisans rotate. So, it’s more of a pop-up and the artisans change about every six weeks. This group goes until November […]
India Journal: Visit to Pure Ghee Textile Designs
Ghee, clarified buffalo or cow butter, is the essential cooking and flavoring oil in India. Ghee also has religious significance and is used at life cycle celebrations throughout the country. It is highly nutritious and is part of the ayurvedic system, which forms the basis of spirituality, food, and health. One could say that ghee […]
Textile Fiestas of Mexico guide book by Sheri Brautigam, with a little help from Norma Schafer
It was early 2016 and I’d just returned from taking a group of textile travelers to Tenancingo de Degollado, Estado de Mexico, to study the ikat rebozos of the region. Textile maven and friend Sheri Brautigam was in Oaxaca putting the final content and photos together for her upcoming book, Textile Fiestas of Mexico. http://thrumsbooks.com/little-help-friends-mexico/ […]
Textile Fiestas of Mexico: New Guidebook for Smart Travelers
The book, Textile Fiestas of Mexico: A Traveler’s Guide to Celebrations, Markets and Smart Shopping by Sheri Brautigam and published by Thrums Books, is hot off the press. It’s a comprehensive guide to some of Sheri’s favorite Mexican textile villages and towns. I contributed two chapters! Sheri invited me to cover Teotitlan del Valle, the […]
Que Supresa! Oaxaca in San Diego, California
As I drive south from my son’s home in Huntington Beach, California, on my way to visit Barbara and David, and dear friend Merry Foss in San Diego, I marvel at how the landscape looks like Mexico, how the climate feels like Mexico. Except there is development everywhere, new houses, shopping centers, freeway congestion. Infrastructure. […]
Gossip and Morning Refreshment: Following the Abuelitas
This morning I arrive at the daily market early, by 9 a.m. I had chicken soup on my mind and want to make some, so I first stop at a stall where I know that cooking teacher Reyna Mendoza buys her pollo. Criollo, advises the woman standing next to me in the aisle as she […]
Aye, My Aching Back! Keep the DSLR or Opt for Lighter Camera?
For the past three weeks I’ve been traveling in buses, airplanes, vans, taxis and collectivos in Mexico City, and the States of Mexico and Michoacan to discover more of Mexico. I’ve walked a fair piece over cobblestones and uneven pathways. I’ve climbed pre-Hispanic archeological pyramids with steps that are taller than me. All the while, […]
Soft Landing Oaxaca, and Teotitlan del Valle
It’s a four-and-a-half hour bus ride from Puebla CAPU to Oaxaca ADO bus station. Taxi from Puebla historic center to CAPU is 80 pesos. Bus ticket is about 450 pesos on ADO GL deluxe service. Easy. Scenic. The road dips and rises through mountains studded with mature saguaro and nopal cactus, flowing river beds (it’s […]
Red Pottery of San Marcos Tlapazola, Tlacolula, Oaxaca
My dad was a potter and I grew up with a potter’s wheel and an electric kiln in our garage. Tools were piled on the table, where also sat clay forms drying to the leather hard before he put them into the oven. This is where he would go to work when he came home from […]
Oaxaca Street Life: Guelaguetza Crush, Art and Expoventas
Thousands of people converge on the streets of Oaxaca for Guelaguetza. Only 11,000 were in the Guelaguetza auditorium to hear Lila Downs last night. The rest were visitors strolling Macedonio Alcala, the walking avenue between the Zocalo and Santo Domingo Church, and roaming vendors selling everything from fragrant azucenas that only bloom at night to […]
In Mexico City: Popular Art–Folk Art Shopping Hideaway
Tucked behind the tall 17th century heavy wood doors of an imposing colonial residence at Isabel la Catolica 97 is Victor Arts Populares Mexicanas. There is no sign, only a small poster affixed to the only window facing the street. Don’t knock on wood, the guard admonished me, after I did several times. He instructed […]
In Mexico City: FONART for Folk Art Shopping
FONART is the national fund for promoting arts and crafts in Mexico. Folk art and crafts of every type from every Mexican state are represented. Textiles, red and black ceramics, Talavera, carved wood figures, beeswax candles, tinware, etc. The pieces are more collector quality than what you would find in crafts markets like Mercado Cuidadela. […]
Morocco Journal 9: Shopping, Eating, Sleeping, Body Work
Back home in North Carolina after 14 days in Morocco, the quintessential shopping bazaar, with a 2-day stopover in beautiful Madrid, Spain. Now, I prepare to return to Oaxaca, but not before a final set of Morocco recommendations to share with you. Marrakech Riad Bahia Salam, Marrakech, a restored mid-range guesthouse situated within easy […]
Morocco Journal 6: Essaouira Faces and Places
The melting pot of Essaouira attracts Anglos and Moslems from throughout the western and African world. This week I met a Parisian couple, both professionals, whose parents immigrated from Tunisia and Algeria. Their gorgeous children captured my eye. The mom of these children, Saoud, speaks four languages fluently — French, Arabic, English and Spanish. […]
Morocco Journal 3: Shop, Bargain, Buy or Walk Away
How many glasses of mint tea can you drink in a day? Every shop owner, whether in the souq or in a traditional store, will offer mint tea. The tea is delicious. It is also a strategy to get you to sit down, talk and stay a while. A while can often be two […]
Sunday Tlacolula Market: Getting There, Being There
Every Sunday, with the exception of Easter, all the Teotitlan del Valle buses and collectivos go back and forth from the village to the tianguis at Tlacolula de Matamoros. If you want to get from Oaxaca City to Teotitlan on a Sunday, that’s a different story (see below). The regional street market draws thousands of […]