Puebla

From Toluca we drove all the way back around to the north of Mexico City and southeast to Puebla, a big city with a beautiful colonial center.



That view above of the cathedral and center of Puebla is from a the wonderful rooftop terrace at the Museo Amparo, where they've added a glass-enclosed cafe:





There's lots more than good coffee at the museum, from pre-hispanic art to an exhibit on the modern architecture of Mario Pani. Harlan dug this show in particular for its 8x10" silver gelatin contact prints that were clearly the work of a master. We also got completely absorbed in a display of retablos or ex-votos: paintings on metal, generally maybe 9 inches by 12 inches, made to give thanks for miracles. Many of these are powerfully moving, even as they seem like such simple pictures.



In 1897, Francisco Padilla was crossing the Sierra and met a tiger who wanted to devour him, and having endured two days and a night "he put himself in the hands of the holy Virgin of San Juan of the Lakes and in brief she granted him the miracle and he offers her this retablo."



In 1960, Jose Mosquedo Paramo thanked the Lord for two operations that turned out well.



A soldier wounded in the arm by a canon in 1849 had a long story about operation and amputation and relief:



And there are the more mundane disasters, from one's son falling down a well (and being rescued from all danger), to oneself falling from a power line, to a boy being run over by a truck, along with his burro:







In 1901: "When we found ourselves Juan and I at the top of a ladder we had just lifted the last load of adobe when the ladder broke and we fell on our heads[.] When we were falling I commended myself to the Sr SA Santiago del Moro and we didn't get killed." I enlarge this one here for the details: a man looks down from the roof at the two poor guys on the ground, while life goes on at the nearby well where people are drawing water.



I hope to ever be so grateful for good fortune.

More inspiration at the Museo Amparo:

Death in sugar

After a day in Metepec we headed to Toluca where we could check out the market for decoration for Day of the Dead ofrendas, or altars.



All sorts of things in all sorts of materials were on offer, from paper to chocolate to marzipan to sugar paste to nuts and seeds and plastic. Here's a slice of pictures--I see we focused on the sweet stuff:















There was a little skeleton figure for just about any profession: athletes, surgeons, engineers, obstetricians, pole dancers...









This baker sells the traditional holiday loaf for Day of the Dead:



Butchers--we thought the pig head was a bit of of comedy, but saw plenty of them in butchers' stalls in days to come:



In the zocalo, or town square, lots of people were dressed up in costumes, including a bag lady:

Metepec

Our little group, led by Rick Hall, La Clandestina DF, spent most of a day in Metepec, southwest of Mexico City. Rick knows many of Mexico's finest artists personally and they welcomed him and us into their homes and workshops with heartwarming grace--and lunch! In Metepec we visited Tiburcio Soteno and his family, creators of ceramic "trees of life." These sculptures have left any strict tree shape behind them with over-the-top imagination.

I can't find a truly a good image of Tiburcio's work even online, or one that brings forward all there is to discover in the work. You have to be able to lean in and absorb all the details in person, from all sides. Here's one of his simpler creations in the kiln; it's maybe four feet tall, with a Nativity at the bottom and God and the earth above, and legions of angels:



Someone gave similar attention to decorating the chimney of the kiln, and even the walls around it:

In the Soteno shop were all sorts of other pieces. I particularly liked these two chalices, hell and heaven:





Was this a special commission to recreate Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, or a ceramicist just going for it?



This time of year in Mexico, Catrina figures of all sorts are everywhere. In an exhibit in Metepec we liked this fairly traditional one:



And found this one taking the form in a new direction:



More market time in Metepec!



I love the cheek-by-jowlness of all the things on offer:





Chicharron!







We feasted on some green and red chorizos in excellent tacos:



Those are french fries in the middle of this range:



And yes, they go on the tacos, yum!



I think US markets have underestimated the design potential of wheelbarrows for displaying goods:









And back home, this wheelbarrow on would be on its way to the dump, but here it's just on break:



Our group made off with our fair share of bottles from the shop of this liqueur maker. In his workroom, aguardiente flavored with various local herbs runs through these filters, cotton or nylon, I think, that come to look like wool with enough use:





A watchdog kept an eye on us:



A last wave for now to Metepec: