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Monday, January 29, 2018

People in the streets of Morelia.

This is a great time to post some sketches I've done during our stay in Morelia. Since I've been sick with a cold, I haven't strolled the streets nor have I had desire to sketch. I'll show you in this post, some of the people whose activities are familiar but not easy to spot anymore. Memories from my childhood came after spotting the milk man. I thought this species was extinct! The milkman sells raw milk he carries in these stainless steel jars from door to door. People boils the milk at home and because it is not homogenized, the floating buttery fat formed during this process of boiling is sometimes collected. We Mexicans call it nata. Nata over a bolillo roll bread sprinkled with sugar is heaven! 

She is an organillero, an organ grinder. This was the first time I've seen a woman playing it, it's usually men. She posed and smile when I took the photo while she was still playing her old and well made German organ. Songs are repetitive and sometimes out of tune, but it gives a fun vibe to the streets, better than noise of car engines or horns.
Are you familiar with Chinese fortune cookies? Well how a bout trying a bird which chooses a fortune paper for you? Yep, still out there. 

Morelia is full of surprises and old ways, love it!

Friday, January 26, 2018

Atotonilco in Morelia

Across the street from this view, there's a cafe where my husband and I sat after dining out. This is the North side of Templo de San Francisco. This view was in front of me and of course I had to add another building made of quarry stone to my sketchbook. Because we were seated by the window, a woman walking in the street stopped next to us. She started to sing in the hope of collecting some coins from the people inside the cafe. I listened to her while I was sketching, she was singing one of the songs my mother used to sing out loud when she was in good mood or happy, Atotonilco, happy memories. We gave her some money and she gave us her blessing. As you can see in the sketch, there's an orange tree at this bus stop. Citrus trees are spread out in this city. You practically can collect the fruit in you want, or better said, if you reach it. I'm still not a fan of perfectly blue sky, but this time I didn't mind. I watercolor it later and used making fluid to make the pattern of the wall which would contrast the flat sky. I enjoyed my time sketching, the coffee and the song of the woman. 

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Altozano neighborhood, Morelia

Away from colonial downtown of Morelia city, we went to the theater to watch a movie last night, The Shape of Water. The modern and chic place is an open mall built in the newest and growing residential development Altozano located up in the hills of the city. The view of the city is spectacular. Going there was difficult, we had to drive along very narrow streets and sharp curves, it seemed it was the only way, but I was told an underground road is been constructed as we speak. It totally makes sense. The mall seems a little bit empty, there are many business spaces still available for rent, the lack of a proper road for easy access is having an impact in the number of visitors. This may change over the years, it better, since the space is luxurious and one can see there was a big investment here. The big tents cover most of the open areas, it seems to be a tendency to use these tents in public places. As for the movie, it was nice story. Watching the Dutch short film, The Space Between Us before the movie was a mistake, since it is the same story, I knew how it was going to end, but at least the movie was well made and all the characters played an equal importance in the story. We had  fun, of course I made a sketch of it. :)

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

The Cathedral in Morelia.

-You don't know the measurements! Everybody wants to paint it but you don't know how. -That's right- I replied. When someone is not happy about one sketching something it belongs to their city, there's nothing else left but to remain humble, and for a good reason! The Cathedral of Morelia is one of the most beautiful churches in Mexico I have seen, also the interior. Its two imposing towers are very intimidating, I wanted to sketch the front of the church, but then I would be missing it's white and blue tile domes that can be seen perfectly on the West side. Yes, I don't know the measurements, but I couldn't explain to a person with the protective attitude that this was an sketch, that it doesn't need to be perfect but credible. It was a good thing this man wasn't the sole owner, then I would have to ask his permission to do so. As for the rest of by passers, they expressed happiness, kudos and pride for someone daring to sketch one of their beloved landmarks. That's the people of Morelia I know. 

Sunday, January 21, 2018

Would you do it? Morelia.

Many people think that Mexico is a warm paradise to spend the winter in. That is true....in part. The beach cities can be very warm at day and night, but in the inner land, like Central Mexico the temperature can change drastically in one day. At noon the day is warm and during the night and early morning is cold, sometimes near freezing. This is still comfortable for people who come from countries where winter is harsh. Not only they spend winter here, but they come to stay. There are many opportunities for them to get a house and make it their own, like the one above, they just let loose of fear to spend their money here and go for it. Would you do it if you could?

Saturday, January 20, 2018

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, Morelia.

It was my intention to sketch the Cathedral. I even previously had spotted a bench from where to sketch it. To my surprise there was a protest from some state workers and the alley where the bench I had selected  was closed by the police, U.R.O.P. Unidad de Restablecimiento del Orden Publico (Unity of Reestablishment for Public Order). I asked permission to sit there, right behind the police line. The denied the permission. The view of Cathedral was in the direction in which the police was facing. There was two choices, to sketch the protesters or the police. It was clear to me that sketching police was a better opportunity. So started to sketch them. It was a peaceful protest. Police where there for the "just in case". When they spotted me doing something, the nearest to me were curios. I started to have a conversation, an animated conversation with them about their job and uniform and me about sketching. There were endless interruptions from annoying people who wanted to cross the police barrier, doing exactly what I had just done minutes ago. This was rare opportunity to put myself in the police shoes and understand what they had to deal with as part of their job: annoying and sometimes disrespectful people. At the end of my ink line work they asked me to show the whole police line my unfinished sketch, you see, it was the change of shift.  
By this time, most of them were smiling asking questions about how long did it take, selling my work, if I take commissions and so. The second shift came and I started to watercolor it. I  noticed two of them didn't leave, they stayed, did they want to see the final piece? When I finished the piece, everyone wanted to see it and I had to walk along the line to show it. Some took pictures, other asked: where am I?, others tried to identify themselves in the sketch, others recognized others. It was fun. I gave the only woman in the line my moo card, it seems to be the right choice. At the end they wanted a photo of the whole line with finished sketch and the artist....well here it is.
I really liked this experience, this gentleman were tough, they are doing what they are suppose to do, but also they were friendly, polite, fun and gracious, like one of them mentioned to me, with families just like any of us. Thanks to my husband for her endless patience, he joked about me flirting with them! LOL. Precious opportunity for an sketcher, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 

Friday, January 19, 2018

Santa Clara del Cobre and Zirahuen, Mexico

Santa Clara del Cobre is a Pueblo Magico known for its copper goods. There is a huge copper pan under the kiosk in the main plaza as a sample of what the inhabitants of this town do. My first stop was, however something less glamorous than a Pueblo Magico's visit, it was a stop to the restroom. In the main plaza named Plaza Matamoros, there are public restrooms in the back yard of a private home. They were super basic but clean. There is a toilet bowl converted into a planter displayed on the way to the back of the property. It could be gross for some, but it seemed cute enough and a clever advertisement to make it to my sketchbook.

Life is slow and everybody seems to enjoy the sun at the main plaza. I've been using the Koh-i-noor magic pencil to sketch people.
One can get there anything made of copper, from small objects like key chains or a pair of earrings to kitchen sinks and bathtubs, all made from scratch. One can wonder how do the artisans get so much copper? Mining is not the answer but the recycling of copper wire. The method to make these goods hasn't changed for decades, except how do they lit the fire, which changed from blowing air manually to the use of electricity. Most of men in town do that for living. Copper artisans can be junior or master based on expertise. 

After visiting the Copper Museum, shown on the left on next sketch, we head up the Pino Suarez street to visit one of these stores. 
We were told there was an artisan who makes demonstrations. Roberto, who is a copper master artisan, showed us how the pieces to be formed by hammering are heated in a wood pit fire.

We left Santa Clara del Cobre and headed to the nearby village named Zirahuen, the village and the lake have the same name. In our way to the village, we stopped at a very humble stand were some women were selling food. The reason we stopped there wasn't because we were hungry but because of the view. So we got only a beer in order to sit down there. The view was amazing. Here's a photo, I owe you a sketch because I didn't get one! 
This place had the best view of the lake. There, the handmade walls of the fire stove was so primitive and the attire of this woman was so cute that they are now in my sketchbook.

A pair of costumer friends, didn't even sat at a table, the sat on the wall of the open space. The dark socks and vest of the woman pointing out something to her friend looked warm, that's why this image was so appealing to me. I realized that despite the humble life of these women they looked happy having a food bite together. 

More sketches of Morelia city in my next post.

Monday, January 15, 2018

Centro Casa de la Cultura de Morelia



The Cultural Center of Morelia is one of those massive buildings built by the Catholic Church centuries ago. The characteristic thick walls can still impress anyone today. I sketched some corners of the interior to show the fantastic work they used to do those days, well...I tried. A peaceful walk along the corridors was a nice sensation, I couldn't help to think of nuns in their habits with their hands together walking in a row to heading to their bedrooms. Today it is a the city building where art workshops are given. The cells or rooms of the Carmelitas nuns are now the class rooms and offices. Entrance is free.

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Las Tarascas fountain, Morelia.


La fuente de Las Tarascas is a landamark of the city. Since it is located at a roundabout, there are many angles where to sketch it from. I discarded half of the views since I wanted to include the aqueduct. I found a spot in some steps in the shade. It was a bus stop, I made many pauses, fortunately, the big buses are not allow in downtown, the public transportation rely on minivans, they come constantly but they move fast.  During the almost 3 hours I was there, I saw people crossed the street to get closer to the fountain fro photos, tourists, a quinceanera and a bride with all her bridemades. It was quite entertaining, time flew.

Friday, January 12, 2018

Calzada Fray Antonio de San Miguel, Morelia

Yesterday we went to El Callejon del Romance again, Romance Alley. An alley known by locals to be narrow and secretive, where young couples find moments of privacy to express their love through sighs, whispers, exchange of shy glances, sweating hands, hugs and perhaps kisses.
I sat at a planter near one end and started to sketch this view.
If you look close enough, there's a fountain at the end of this alley in the sketch above. The loud music coming from a bar on the second floor above me made me move to the other end, where I had a closer look to the fountain.
Here, there wasn't only one but three fountains, two shown above. A couple can be seen by the right fountain. It looks to me like any girl is happy to be taken here, to the romance alley, as a way to her boyfriend to profess his love for her. The couples I saw were teenagers, so tender, it inspired me to paint this sketch in pastel colors, sort of. Why? It reminds me of babies, pink and blue?
We left the alley to continue to the Calzada Fray Antonio de San Miguel, a pedestrian walk way so old, it still remains the same since it's construction. The blocks of stone, eroded through the years, make the floor uneven but still walk-able. This Calzada was built to connect to wonderful landmarks, La fuente de las Tarascas, which I intend to sketch, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Calzada host tens if not hundreds of people walking by, sitting, talking, relaxing.

The Shrine is at the end of the Calzada. I took my mini Moleskine to make a thumbnail to tackle the difficult perspective in the interior. I must confess a sneaked at times at the photo I took to help with  all confusing angles, even with the photo reference, I caught some mistakes in my sketch!
I was carried away by the praying group and instead of stopping I went on and on with detail, yes, in a 3x5 inches page. I enjoyed it though, very much. I hope I can return before I leave this city to try again and try to make justice to the incredible architectural details  of this church.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Plaza Morelos, Morelia.

Plaza Morelos is a great open space which honors one the heroes of the Mexican Independence War, Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon. Morelos was born here, in this city. The city was called Valladolid in the past, but was changed to Morelia, to honor the national heroe Morelos. I wanted to sketch the whole space, not only the monument. I used a 8 x 16 inches sketchbook and started with pencil to keep proportions right, I could erase if I made mistakes. Then it happened that I couldn't stop. I went on and on until I had so much detail that I knew it was going to be confusing for me later. I retraced with ink over pencil and had to make decisions about what to keep and what to let go. When I though the inked sketch made all sense, I erased all the pencil traces. I don't know if I made a mistake or not, it's like erasing the sketching bones, which makes the sketch more interesting to the viewer.... I think. Oh well. It is what it is. Then I watercolor it at home. How can you lie about the perfectly blue sky, I wish there were some clouds to add interest, but I swear, the blue skies here are just perfect, it may be boring to the viewer but I want to stay true to what I see.

The barber in Callejon del Romance, Morelia.



My husband stopped shaving after the holidays, it's not a favorite task for some men. He had a long bear, so when we spotted this barbershop in the Callejon del Romance, we stopped to asked the barber if she could take him. -After an hour, she said, -I have a costumer waiting. We agreed. We walked along the alley and read all the plaques with fragments of poems placed on the walls. I tried to translate them to my husband from old Spanish to English. Even Spanish being my native language, I had a hard time understanding some words and sometimes the meaning of the poem, but we had fun with all the none sense translation. We came back to the barbershop but still had some time. There was a small coffee shop next to the barbershop where we had some coffee and let know the barber, a woman, we were there. When she was done with the costumer, she took my husband. I asked the barista if I could borrow the ceramic cup of coffee and take it to the barbershop with me, he agreed. When I saw the interior of the barbershop,  I wanted to sketch it, the old solid wood door in the back, typical from colonial houses, was a treat, so I did sketch the place, my coffee remained untouched again. The barber finished first than me, I hurried to collect my stuff and went to the coffee shop next door and asked the barista to reheat my coffee in the microwave(!), he gladly agreed and did something better, he used steam. Sometimes I feel that sketching complicate things a little bit, but when I see the finished sketches, I'm glad I I went through all botheration.

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Cafe Catedral, Morelia

Last night was the Dia de los Reyes Magos, there was a huge celebration and a parade in downtown that we missed. We realized something was going on because of the gibberish we could hear from the place we are staying in. Off we went, to only find out that it was over but there were left lots of people, vendors and bright confetti on the floor. We could hardly walk until we find shelter in a cafe place, under one of the colonial buildings. A group of senior men were together having a coffee, I know for a fact that at this age, men stay for a long time chatting, and loved the fact that the arches and shades framed them beautifully. In the heat of the sketching moment, my untouched tea got cold.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Jardin de la Columna, Morelia


Today I used for the first time my 8 x 16 in hand made sketchbook with Arches paper. This small but beautiful square stars a huge tree which branches reach across the street.  I chose to sit on the floor using a big planter to support my back. There was some stains on the floor which chances of being urine (from humans or dogs, oh Lord...) were high, so I thought suck it up and do the sketch, fortunately I brought with me a small cushion protected with a plastic bag. Oh well.... you don't need to know my peccata minutiae. 

The hidden parish behind the tree, could be the focal point, but this city has plenty of religious buidlings. I forgot to fill my fountain pens with ink so I used pencil. I was determine to finish coloring the sketch on location against my lack of patience but I finished it. I would say that at least 6 persons stopped by to ask questions or to tell me how much they wish they could do this. One of them told me: some day, some day. As for me, I got to go to make supper.

Friday, January 5, 2018

Patzcuaro and Uruapan

After spending the Holidays with my family in Mexico, my husband and I are visiting the state of Michoacan. We are staying in Morelia, the capital city, and my brother is staying with us for few days. I've been touring the city with them without sketching and finally I had to claim some time for me to sketch at least some views of the surrounding towns. We made a stop in Patzcuaro. A cute hospital with the typical architecture cross my road. 
Then we walked to the main plaza, which seems to be the only in Mexico with no religious building in it, and there were some dancers dancing the Danza de los Viejitos, a typical dance of the Purepecha region. That yellow thing behind them was a Christmas tree made with sisal textile mats, known locally as petates.
Then we visited the observation deck Quiosco Mirador, Cerro del Estribo Grande to see the Patzcuaro Lake and the Paztcuaro town.
Next day we went to Uruapan. We visited the Parque Nacional Barranca del Cupatitzio. 
It was nice to revisit the sites my husband and I did 11 years ago. I don't have sketches from then but now I'm happy I do have some. Next, I'll explore the city of the beautiful and manorial city of Morelia. Sketches in my next posts.