Sketching the Patzcuaro Parade

The day after teaching my Sketching Patzcuaro workshop turned out to be the the birthday celebration for the town- costumed dancers, charros on horseback, and indigenous Purepecha music paraded through the streets and plazas.

Danza de los Ambakatis

Preparing for the parade- danza de los Kurpites

Musicos con Toro

Why I love to sketch in public

New amigas

Unfolding Images- Playing with the mini concertina sketchbook

I have always loved handmade books- even as a child when I would staple together sheets of typing paper and fill them with drawings and writing. These mini concertina booklets, or accordian books, are made from strips of drawing or watercolor paper and force me to look at the environment in a different way, incorporating multi faceted views, searching for repeated shapes and forms, and finding ways to unify the piece through line and color.

Concertina of the Jardin in San Miguel

Mini concertina on watercolor wash of a courtyard in San Miguel

Multi view mini concertina of my neighborhood

Sketching Mexico's NationalTattoo Festival

Sketching at the En Tinta La Piel Art Tattoo Fest yesterday at the conference center in San Miguel, where Mexico's finest tattoo artists were busy adorning bodies with incredibly imaginative designs.
The perfect setting to sketch people sitting still.
Each person had a story to tell about the images they were choosing to adorn themselves with, and chose their artists carefully after perusing the many portfolios of styles.

Dia Internacional de La Mujer!

Celebrating International Women's Day with a few sketches from the past few years in Mexico.

The Art of Waiting

As a person who suffers from perpetual impatience, sketching has saved me from losing my mind while being forced to wait in countless airports, bus stations, restaurants, doctor's waiting rooms, long queues, et cetera, et cetera... 

Now waiting is an opportunity to draw, and the challenge is to make an otherwise tedious environment into an interesting sketch, experimenting with composition, design, and color.  

Three hour unexpected layover at LAX

A hundred ways to draw people on their phones, and one newspaper

Two hour wait at the Mexico City Bus Station

Waiting for lunch at Betty's burgers in Santa Cruz, CA

Momentitos

It is said that if there is more than one person in a painting there is a story to tell. Often I only have a few minutes to sketch between errands so I try to capture small moments, interactions between people. So much can be said without words, just using body language. Here are a few samples of small moments from the day.

Second Annual Women's March and Rally in San Miguel

Expats sporting pussy hats and signs to resist, insist and persist returned to Juarez park in San Miguel de Allende for the second annual global Women's Rally and March. 

Several people spoke from the gazebo, including a woman who recently moved here because her Mexican husband was deported, and a young boy who let us know that he would one day be a lot bigger man and vowed to always respect women.

Those of us who live in Mexico and love this country are especially moved to protest a government that seems clueless to the rich culture and amazing people in this land we now call home.