A Writer’s Life in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Oh, goodness. Where to start? Since Thursday evening, January 2, I have participated in a women’s creative writing workshop retreat in the Oaxaca village of Teotitlan del Valle. I have produced this workshop (or something like it) for the past fourteen years (minus the last two, when we took a break). We end on Wednesday […]
Holiday Greetings! Best of the Best Oaxaca Photo Workshop
Sending you warmest greetings from sunny, sparkly Taos, New Mexico, where we are basking in high desert winter sunshine and 50 degrees (20 degrees above average). Perfect walking weather. Global warming? Definitely! I’m getting ready to return to Oaxaca on December 30. I won’t be complaining about the mid-70’s there. I want to thank you […]
Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Portraits
Yesterday, Luvia Lazo, our instructor, scheduled an online review of photographs I had taken during our recent Day of the Dead Photography Workshop in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. Everyone who participated sent Luvia a selection of what they considered to be their best 10-15 shots taken during the three days we were together. She arranged […]
Photo Workshop Day 3: Luvia’s Grandmother +
We met at Luvia’s photography studio at 9:30 a.m. Before that, most of us returned to the village market to take more pictures. The early morning light here is illuminating. The light plays with shadows and texture; there is so much to capture the eye. This is a daily market in Teotitlan del Valle, one […]
Photography Workshop Day Two: Portraits + More
On the second day of our photography workshop in Teotitlan del Valle, our instructor, Luvia Lazo Gutierrez, made appointments with families to visit them in their homes. This was an incredible exercise to capture a more intimate view of village life and to understand the technical aspects of light, shadow, distance, and perspective. Luvia, whose […]
Oaxaca Photo Workshop: Day One, Day of the Dead
We gathered in photographer Luvia Lazo Gutierrez’s studio this morning at 9:30 a.m. to start our three-day photography workshop in Teotitlan del Valle. We are here to explore the Day of the Dead visual landscape of the village, gain creative insights and technical skills, and see the world through a more defined lens. I found […]
Loving Indigo Blue from Oaxaca and Japan
I’m smitten with indigo. I first fell in love with it years ago in Oaxaca, Mexico, where I discovered it is grown along the tropical, humid southern coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The type of indigo grown in Oaxaca is a different strain. The botanical name for the Oaxaca indigo plant is Indigofera suffruticosa, also […]
Oaxaca Day of the Dead Photo Workshop
Three Days — October 27, 28, 29, 2024, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Arrive just before Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead to explore the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle as preparations begin for this grand celebration to honor the ancestors. We take you inside people’s homes and workshops where you might […]
Oaxaca Deep Dive: Cooking, Culture + Craft Tour
Jump into the magic of Oaxaca, Mexico, from January 11 to 17, 2025. During this six-night, seven-day immersion tour you will discover (almost) everything this UNESCO World Heritage city has to offer. You will take a hands-on cooking class from a traditional chef who uses an outdoor wood-fired kitchen to prepare acclaimed pre-Hispanic dishes, visit […]
10/30/24 Day of the Dead Tour in Oaxaca: Hands-on Bucket-List Experience
On October 30, 2024, we give you a wide-ranging, immersion Day of the Dead experience of a lifetime! Construct a Day of the Dead Altar. Participate in a workshop using wild marigold botanical dyes. Savor traditional tamales made with mole amarillo with a local Zapotec family. Taste artisanal mezcal. Discuss culture, traditions, and Zapotec history. […]
Textile Tour in Oaxaca, Mexico, December 2024
Join us in Oaxaca from December 6 to 14, 2024, for a spectacular insider’s view of the textile culture and history of this World Heritage colonial city. We have created this experience in collaboration with Fiber Circle Studio in Petaluma, California, and owner founder Alisha Bright. Lots of touring plus hands-on workshops to keep you […]
Day of the Dead 2024 Photo Workshop Instructor Featured in Elle Magazine
Elle Magazine Mexico features an interview with photographer Luvia Lazo from Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca. Luvia is leading a photography workshop here in October 2024, just before Day of the Dead. The interview is in Spanish, but you can use Google translate or just get the gist of it by looking at her extraordinary photographs. […]
Oaxaca Day of the Dead Photo Workshop
Three Days — October 27, 28, 29, 2024, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Arrive just before Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, to explore the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle as preparations begin for this grand celebration to honor the ancestors. We take you inside people’s homes and workshops where you might […]
2025 Women’s Creative Writing Workshop Retreat: Inspirations for a New Year
January 2-8, 2025, seven days, six nights in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico. It’s the start of 2025, a new year, and we are inspired to revisit the years passed and the one that now begins. What are our hopes, dreams, wishes, aspirations. What are our regrets. What memories come up that bring us gratitude, […]
Day of the Dead in Five Parts
I wrote the draft of this last year during Day of the Dead during our Women’s Creative Writing Workshop, and recently rewrote and edited it to read at SOMOS The Taos Literary Society last night. It was well-received and I want to share it with you. Creative writing is an important aspect of my life […]
Oaxaca Screenwriting Workshop for Film + TV: We All Have a Story
Arrive Thursday, March 28 and depart Wednesday, April 3, 2024–Semana Santa Experience What makes a good story? And how do we translate that to a movie or television? We might say: That show has a good story line, or I love those characters (or not), or The plot is unbelievable (as in, either amazing or […]
NEW! One-Day Indigo Dye Workshop
Indigo blue is one of those magical colors that so many of us covet. It comes from a leafy green plant that looks like pea shoots and is found in many countries around the equator including Africa, India, Japan AND Oaxaca, Mexico. Laboriously cultivated and processed in the humid conditions of Santiago Niltepec near the […]
2022 Day of the Dead Culture Tour
October 29 to November 4, 2022—6 nights and 7 days— $2,895 for a shared room and $3,495 for a single room. We have 3 single rooms and 4 shared rooms available. Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico, is meaningful and magical. Celebrations in the villages go deep into Zapotec culture, community, tradition and pre-Hispanic […]
Hopeful! 2021 Oaxaca Day of the Dead Culture Tour
October 28 to November 4, 2021 – 7 nights and 8 days, starting at $2,795 We are hopeful! Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico, is meaningful and magical. Celebrations in the villages go deep into Zapotec culture, community, tradition and pre-Hispanic practice. Some say it is the most important annual celebration in Mexico and […]
Guest Post: Take (or Gift) a Oaxaca Embroidery Workshop Online
Are you looking for a last-minute meaningful gift? Are you looking for a creative Covid-19 diversion? Do you want to learn traditional Oaxaca embroidery techniques? Do you want to support an indigenous family who depends on textile sales for livelihood? There is no tourism now, so no sales. My friend Susan deLone thought up this […]
Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing Retreat 2020: Winter Holidays, Traditions
This is our 9th year offering this retreat! We will gather in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, from December 15 to 21, 2020, to reflect and write. Holiday traditions run deep here and it is a perfect place to explore our theme: ‘Tis the season for family, traditions, celebration, gift-giving, holiday expectations and disappointments, wishes fulfilled […]
Exquisite Corpse Poem: Day of the Dead — Nine Women Writing
What is an Exquisite Corpse Poem? The root of the exquisite corpse poem comes from the Parisian Surrealist Movement, and is a method by which a collection of words or phrases is assembled. Each collaborator adds to the composition. In our case; Professor Robin Greene, our writing instructor and coach, constructed this poem from lines […]
Oaxaca Journal: Traveling with Oliver Sacks
This is a book review, of sorts. Perhaps it’s my own journal of movement and re-discovery both internal and external. The Time Machine of air travel took me from Oaxaca to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Huntington Beach, California, now to land in Durham, North Carolina. I also call North Carolina home though I spend […]
Photo Essay: Oaxaca Cochineal Dye Workshop in Durham, NC
Yesterday, my Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, godson Omar Chavez Santiago, from Galeria Fe y Lola, taught a cochineal natural dye workshop through INDIO Durham, hosted by owner Wendy Sease. We had a sold-out workshop. Most people don’t know that cochineal is the natural dye that colors lipstick, Campari, yogurt, and wine. Anything labeled carminic acid […]
Day of the Dead 2019 Women’s Writing Retreat: How Memory Inspires Us
Arrive Wednesday, October 30 and leave Monday, November 4, 2019. The retreat can accommodate up to 10 women. We gather for Day of the Dead 2019 in the traditional Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico to write with intention for five nights and four days. Day of the Dead inspires us to revisit our […]
Oaxaca Weaver in Raleigh-Durham, NC, October 17-21, 2018
Omar Chavez Santiago, a young talented weaver from Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, and Galeria Fe y Lola, will be in Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina for a set of talks, cochineal dye demonstrations and textile sales from October 17 to October 21, 2018. Events are open to the public. Please attend and share widely! Thank […]
Oaxaca Cochineal Dye Workshop in Durham, North Carolina
Thanks to Wendy Sease at INDIO Durham, Omar Chavez Santiago is coming back to North Carolina in mid-October for a trunk show and natural cochineal dye workshop. He will also be demonstrating at Meredith College in a textile residency program. Cochineal is the insect that produces carminic acid (think Campari, lipstick, yogurt), that tantalizing RED […]
Women’s Writing Retreat in Oaxaca, Mexico: Take a Discount and Express Yourself
This is our 8th year to offer the Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing and Gentle Yoga Retreat from June 22-29, 2018. We want a full-house and are offering a 10% discount off the already high-value, low price of $895 for a shared room and $1195 for a single room. It’s not too late to get on […]
Omar’s Discovery Tour: A First Visit to the USA
Omar Chavez Santiago is twenty-four years old. He is a weaver and natural dyer from Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico. Last year, he graduated with a degree in industrial engineering after studying for four years at Anahuac University in Oaxaca. He is at a cross-roads. Does he pursue a professional engineering career and move to […]
Making PomPoms in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas
Wandering around San Cristobal de Las Casas last week I discovered Punto y Trama, on Belisario Dominguez #13b, just two blocks off the Andador Real de Guadalupe walking street. What drew me in was the sign on the door that announced PomPom workshops. Then, once inside I immediately noticed the furry wool Chamula woven shawls adorned […]