Sugar Skull Demonstration October 14, 2011

Join the revelry and reunion indicative of Los Dias de los Muertos (the Days of the Dead) at Chiripa on Friday, October 14. It's the semi-annual Gallery Night sponsored by the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Megan Hile Block will demonstrate sugar skull making and decorating from 6 -9 pm. We'll be serving seasonal refreshments. AND, if we're lucky and the truck arrives, you can see some of the new product from the last buying trip to Mexico. 

For those of you who cannot join us, visit Megan's terrific blog post showing the skulls she made last year with her family. Megan is an energetic young woman, a fan of Chiripa, and a BIG fan of Latin America. Her short bio is below.

Megan Hile Block is a mother, homemaker, school teacher, food blogger and chocolatier with a passionate love of Latin American culture. She has spent years immersing herself in the Spanish language at her “day job” working with bilingual schoolchildren in the Verona School District. In the evening, she dons her gourmet chef apron while creating incredible recipes inspired by the cuisine of the world. She is most recently immersing herself into the art of chocolate making. You can find out more about her work on the web at her wonderful food blog www.foodalution.com

The Most Beautiful House in Mexico

Musings from the Feb 2011 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

 
For several years, we have been visiting our friend Miguel Paredes at his little shop in Puebla. Miguel makes the clever and amusing little skeleton scenes that you can find at Chiripa. 

This year, Miguel invited us to visit his workshop (“taller”) located in his home. Miguel, his wife Lilia, and their son Daniel welcomed us into what looked like an ordinary middle-class residence. 

But once inside, we realized that this house was by no means ordinary. We were stunned to see magnificent painted murals, worthy of a museum, covering the walls! Miguel had painted all of them – not for any commercial reason, but for the pure love of art.

In the living room was a huge mural portraying the Virgen of Guadalupe, surrounding by angels with musical instruments representing the major indigenous peoples of Mexico. (One of the angels was modeled after Miguel’s son Daniel as an infant).

Running the full length of the stairway was an epic mural tracing the entire history of Mexico and its people, from the dawn of time to the present day. 

Surrounding a doorway, there were beautifully painted symbols representing the months of the Aztec calendar. 

At every turn, there were fine artisan crafts from every corner of Mexico (Miguel had acquired many of them by trading with other artisans). We wandered through the house as through a museum.

Lilía offered us delicious home-made bread, fresh mangos, and other treats for lunch. As we ate, we talked about Miguel’s craft, which grew out of the Mexican “Day of the Dead” tradition. 

The conversation was enhanced by Daniel’s wonderful photos of the “Noche de los Muertos,” taken in the indigenous village of Uriche in Michoacán. (The photos were stored on his iPad.) Miguel explained that, when he was a boy, his mother made a special meal each year for dear ones who had departed this life. The front door was left open, and the friendly spirits were invited to enter and partake of the meal. Miguel’s mother spoke to them, and invited them to sit at the table, as if they were still alive. (According to traditional belief, they were still really alive as long as those remaining here still loved and remembered them.) The muertos did not physically consume the offered meal, but transformed it – so that it was even more delicious when consumed by those who remained.

After lunch, we went out behind the house to Miguel’s small but extraordinarily well organized workshop. He showed us the painstaking process by which he makes the little skeleton figures and scenes, including the firing and painting of the tiny clay figures. (As Lilia explained later, Miguel loves to create new designs and art every day – not just when he has a commercial order). Lilia helped us choose a satisfying collection, which you will be able to see soon at Chiripa.

Chicago Visit

We interrupt the Chiripa buying trip log to tell you about a fantastic opportunity in Chicago. The National Museum of Mexican Art is hosting a Folk Art Festival from now until Sunday, October 25.

We took the opportunity to drive down and visit two of our close Oaxaca friends who are part of this special exhibit and sale. Jacobo Angeles (carved and intricately painted wooden figures-alebrijes) and Bulmaro Perez (hand woven and naturally died wool rugs) have brought dozens of samples of their expert craftmanship.

Jacobo is always laughing;
he's holding on to the loom that Bulmaro shipped to the museum to demonstrate his craft.

If you have the opportunity to visit Chicago and the museum you won't find a better place to see their work in the Midwest (except at Chiripa, of course!) and to meet with the artist and learn about the natural die processes that they use. Please tell Jacobo and Bulmaro that we sent you! When the museum closed we took Jacobo and Bulmaro to dinner. They chose the cuisine (Mexican, of course) and we headed for Frontera Grill, the Rick Bayless restaurant on Clark St. in downtown Chicago.

Jacobo and Bulmaro at Frontera Grill, Chicago.

From the mezcal apartif and through the meal we caught up on each other's businesses and learned about their family traditions for the coming Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) celebrations. By chance, Rick was at the restaurant that night and Jacobo and Bulmaro were fortunate enought to meet him and invite him to their homes when he travels to Mexico. It was a very special night!

All camera's came out for the photo op with Rick Bayless.
Jacobo is holding some of his work.

I can't say enough good things about the National Museum of Mexican Art. This is the very best time to see it if you are interested in Dia de los Muertos. A large exhibit space is dedicated to altars (ofrendas) that honor individuals or groups of people who have passed beyond this world.

Other exhibitors at the Folk Art Festival: Guillermina Aguilar from Ocotlan, Oaxaca (clay figures); Miriam Castaneda from Xoxocotla, Morelos (paper Mache); Florentina Lopez de Jesus from Xochistlahuaca, Guerrero (back strap loom weaving); Jose Jorge Garcia from Oaxaca, Oaxaca (silver filigree jewelry) and the Mondragon Family from Toluca, Estado de Mexico (sugar skulls).

The Mondragon family comes to the museum a month before Dia de los Muertos to make 20,000 sugar skulls. They will write a name on the skull if you wish. The museum sells out.

The photogenic Gillermina Aguilar graciously consented to a photo.
Her family's work can be found at Chiripa.

It looks like a cold and rainy weekend ahead. Our Mexican friends are shivering. Go say hello from us and spread some warmth!

A Stop in Puebla

A post from the log that JM kept on the August 09 buying trip to Mexico for Chiripa. -kl

"A late afternoon shower welcomed us to Puebla, and the air was cool. We checked into the comfortable old Hotel Coloniál (the hotel building has been on the city map since 1668), then walked to the tiny shop of our friend Miguel.


Miguel, his wife Lila, and their son Daniel were there to greet us – as were a crowd of humorous little skeleton figures that Miguel and his wife produce in their home. Skeletons on skis, skeletons playing tennis, skeletons at work – seemingly as alive as you and me (maybe more alive than me). You can see them for yourself at Chiripa.

"In the evening, we strolled around Puebla’s beautiful colonial zócalo (central plaza). Across from the cathedral, workers had cut down a huge old tree – the patriarch of all the trees on the zócalo (other trees also seemed to be in bad shape). The benevolent old tree had looked down on generations of strolling lovers, beaming parents, and chattering children chasing pigeons, but now it was just a carcass lying in the street. Workers with chain saws hacked at the outer rings of its huge trunk – like the crew of the Pequod hacking at the carcass of a giant whale.

"There is a new sculpture in the zócalo – a kind of white illuminated maze with trees wrought in iron. At its base is a quotation that goes something like this: “It is true that we must all leave this life. But the works that we labor to create, with all our strength and determination, will endure forever.” That may or may not be true, but the kindly old tree is definitely gone." -JM Aug 4, 2009

Puebla

I'm going to skip ahead to the next phase of the February trip when we stopped in Puebla. We intended to explore the ruins at Xochitecatl Cacaxtla, but they were closed for renovation. Of course we didn't learn this until we had made the bus trip out to the ruins. We wandered around, took another bus to Tlaxcala where we had lunch on the zocalo and then took a slow bus trip back to Puebla. Not all days can be Chiripa days.

A "must-do" shopping experience in Puebla is the artisan market. It's close to the center of town and open late. One of our favorite stops is at Casa de las Artesanias, the shop of Miguel Paredes (Interior del Mercado, El Parian). He carries many fun things from all over Mexico, but his specialty is Day of the Dead figures and nichos (little boxes with scenes inside). Next time we will visit his workshop where they make the figures. In the photo he is holding a bass player. Miguel is open to suggestions for new figures and scenes. Send us your ideas and we'll pass them on.



Of course, Puebla is famous for its talavera pottery. We like the decorative plates that have a raised glaze. Most of the talavera that we carry in Chiripa is made in Dolores Hidalgo in Guanajuato (like this covered plate). Some will say it is not "true" talavera, but it is very affordable and popular with our customers.

For those of you waiting for news on the truck, it was delayed in Texas and is just leaving there today. We're hoping to see it on Wednesday, April 30.