Art

The Blue Light

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This afternoon, when the sun was well to the west, and I was heading out of Mexicito, Santuario Hogar Guadalupano, the boys orphanage where David and I have helping out, my eye was drawn to the blue glass panes over the door of the chapel. 

My previous visits had never taken me there so I decided to investigate.  What a delightful surprise.  A simple world of stone, was bathed in a stunning blue light from three domed windows in the ceiling.  The back wall was lit with a celestial blue I never seen on stone before.
 

Art Is Everywhere

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The bulk of the tourists in San Miguel de Allende for the Christmas & New Year holidays have departed. No more beautiful young women trying to negotiate the cobblestone streets in their beautifully stylish 4” heels: no longer are the streets clogged with cars and buses moving at a snail’s pace.

So the other day, I went for a long stroll down one of the main thoroughfares. My goal was to acquaint myself with the shops along the way and also to exercise my eyes. I scoped out some agaves that would be lovely to photograph when the sun was in a different part of the sky and I had almost walked completely by a closed gate when I found myself advancing backwards to look again. It was one of those slow processing moments where at first it didn’t register what I was actually seeing.

As I began to tune into the details of the tableau in front of me, I began to smile. There was a whole world of flora, fauna and family all made of old auto parts at 19A Ancha, the shop of Mecanico Hermilo Tovar. Is it any wonder that I felt I was in the presence of a kindred spirit? As a person who can imagine a six foot hummingbird from waving ornamental grasses, I loved seeing the work of a man who could envision the human form in a rusty gas tank and winking eyes in worn old gears.

Senor Tovar was a great mechanic in his day and an artist as well. His widow was kind enough to bring me inside and show me some of the “family” still living among his collection of old car parts. I hope you enjoy his artistry and humor.

La Cañada Pyramid

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Pyramid maintenance is an on going chore.

Canada de la Virgin is an archeological site 30 km from San Miguel.  It was opened to the public last year after many years of legal wrangling.  The German who owned the land that this complex of Otomi pyramids were ondid not want to give the public access.  But he lost and a nine kilometer long road was built in the traditional style of this area - roads built by hand with simple tools.  

I am happy to report that I was able to understand at least half of what our tour guide told us during the two hour tour.  This site was used for celestial observation and it was aligned to indicate equinoxes and rainy seasons.  There is the beginnings of what promises to become a very interesting garden laid out in a swirling pattern with each section filled with plants that represent the vast knowledge of plant life by indigenous people.  This is a place that will look very different after the spring rains turn the desert landscape green.

Santa Heads South

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On the road from Leon to San Miguel, there are all sorts of roadside stands, selling everything from auto parts to fried chicken.  Nothing really sparked my interest, until herds of reindeer appeared along the roaside- creatures both large and small made from woven twigs and many with Christmas lights.  Laplands comes to Central Mexico.  And then on my first stroll about town with my camra, I found this version of frosty the snow man.

A Creche Scene for the Times

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I am not one for Christmas Pageantry, but this morning, the creche in front of Amicable Congregational Church in Tiverton, RI, stopped me in my tracks.  There, gathered around a 55 gallon drum, were wooden figures whose chiseled tears and black eyes told volumes about hard times.  The shopping cart in this tableau was not one filled with Christmas gifts and gaudy packages. It’s emptiness tells a story about homelessness, loss and the deprivation of human dignity - a powerful message in this season of consumerism excess.

Fall Color - At Long Last

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Hurricane Irene didn’t destroy our roads as it did in Vermont, but it took with it all the fall color.  But a return trip to Storm King gave me a chance to revel in the autumn art show that makes the vagaries of this climate bearable.  The entire landscape at Storm King is part of the display.  Carefully planted fields of grass turn shades of grey, muted purple and oranges adding texture and color to the scene.


Andy Goldsworthy's wall of arching curves.

 

 

Istanbul Flashback

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All over Turkey, one sees these blue eyes - Anatolian talismans, made of glass to ward off evil influences and bring luck.  

Well I had a momentary flashback yesterday.  I came out of a parking garage into the Cambridge Galleria, smack into a kiosk filled with these.  For a minute I thought I was in Twighlight Zone travel warp.  But, when I looked more closely I realized I was in America, where some enterprising soul combined a good luck horse shoe with blue evil eyes.

 

Hippodrome Horses

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There was much discussion of the looting of antiquities from Turkey by the Crusaders, Venetians,  English and the Germans.  An interesting tidbit for those of you who have visited Venice and been awed by the bronze horses atop St Mark’s Basilica.  They were boosted from the Hippodrome in Constantinople in 1204 by maurading crusaders who has sacked Jerusalem clean.