#Oaxacan Art

[arclantis-blog]

Bull Alebrije

This is an amazing animal wood carving of detailed fine art that you're going to be proud to show in your collection of alebrijes or original art, or give as a gift to someone you love. This impressive Bull Head is sure to be a lively discussion starter in your home or office for many years to come, as it is the only one in the world, and you're going to receive the original hand crafted in the enchanting towns surrounding Oaxaca, Mexico. The creative inspiration and attention to detail that gets poured into the vibrant art built by the Manos Creativas team led by the family of Florencio Fuentes Melchor is truly gratifying.

Expertly Hand Carved & Meticulously Hand Painted Bul Head Alebrije made by local artisans from San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca, Mexico

Beautiful Oaxacan Art -- Bull is Created from One Piece of Copal Tree Wood

This colorful art is magnificent: original, exclusive & uniquely original ... the Only One in the World.

Collectible Artesania Mexicana Folk Art by Local Artists from the Manos Creativas Workshop

Genuine Oaxaca Alebrije Bull Originated in San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca, Mexico

Signed on Bottom by the Artist, Florencio Fuentes

Bull head = 8" tall x 10" wide x 7.5" deep; weighs approximately 2 pounds 2 ounces

This Oaxacan Longhorn Bulll represents two weeks of artistry to complete: 4 days of carving, sanding, prep; 10 days to paint

Handmade Alebrijes are shaped creations based on artist imaginations, dreams or fantasies. The hand carving process uses knives and machetes to shape the copal tree wood, with expert painters creating designs unique to each artist. They may be cleaned with dry or wet cloth. San Martin Tilcajete is a community that concerns itself with the environment, and we reforest our raw materials such as the copal tree.

To learn more about the product, click here.

Please check out other Luv2Brd products, here.

[sheltiechicago]

Vibrant Patterns Envelop Dozens of Mythical Animal Sculptures That Explore the Folk Art Traditions of Mexico

In Guardians, artists María del Carmen Mendoza Méndez and Jacobo Ángeles Ojeda, of Jacobo and Maria Ángeles Workshop, pay homage to the mythical creatures of their Oaxacan childhoods. The husband-wife duo carves the soft wood of the copal tree into fantastical creatures that reference Mesoamerican spirituality and Mexican folk art, including the sculptures known as alebrijes. They refer to the unearthly characters as Tonas and Nahuales and cloak the birds, butterflies, and beasts in vibrant patterns and Zapotec symbols.

All images courtesy of Murmur Ring/Jackie Trezzo

[aperint]

Esperanza a través del arte

Esperanza a través del arte #aperturaintelectual #palabrasbajollave @tmoralesgarcia1 Thelma Morales García

[giftideasfromaycaramba]

Ancient Oaxacan Framed Sun Symbol Tribal Meso-American Black and White Print

[jimbotimes]

OAXACALIFORNIA

First up, enjoy a new Intro for the podcast! Followed by a few notes on the week from yours truly, including on the tragic passing of Mirna Soza while boarding L.A. Metro’s B Line on Monday, April 22nd, as well as on the Armenian Genocide of 1915, commemorated every year on Wednesday, April 24th. Then, from Columbia University to USC, this week belonged to Students for Palestine! In this spirit,…

[omgthatdress]

Josefina’s birthday dress is a style nowadays called the Adelita, which was a nickname given to soldaderas of the Mexican revolution. Today, it is traditionally worn with a sombrero by horsewomen at charrerias:

(credit)

Or with additional fabric added to the skirt of folklorico dancing:

The shawl is a kind of shawl called a manton de Manila. It is a Spanish garment with Chinese embroidery, with the two cultures brought together in The Phillipines. These shawls are also referred to as piano shawls, because they’re so big they were often used as piano coverings.

(from the book Spanish New Mexico published by the Spanish Colonial Arts Society, discovered by @in-pleasant-company​)

(Spanish Colonial Arts Society on Facebook)

Black lace fans are an essential part of Spanish flamenco ensemble, and an important thing to have for Spanish young ladies. The ribs were typically made of mother-of-pearl or tortoiseshell, and the lace was black French chantilly.

(Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

The pendant looks like it might be imitating Mexican gold filigree pendants, but on a doll-sized scale:

Goldsmithing is another pre-hispanic tradition in Oaxaca. Indigenous Oaxacans combined their talents with Spanish filigree designs to create their own unique form of jewelry. With gold and emeralds coming from Colombia, Spain saw an abundance of jewelry being made in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, but it dried up once its colonies began declaring independence.

[impulseimpact]

alienbrije

alebrijes are a vey modern type of mexican folk art (1930s) from mexico city, they are brightly colored sculptures of chimeric or fantastic animals that are usually made trough either paper mache or wood carving, the latter ones also being a bit more of their own thing. Their creator Pedro Linares said to have come up with the idea after seeing some of these creatures in a dream while he was ill.

alienbrije is actually based on oaxacan wood carved martians that became popular during the 80s and 90s, which have only more recently been asociated with alebrijes due to the similarity in look and concept

[alebrije] [marcianos]

[afactaday]

#aFactADay2023

#1037: barro negro is a style of pottery from Oaxaca that dates back at least 2500 years. originally it was matte and grey, and very strong, and used to make useful things like pots. however, the technique was developed in the 1950s into a complicated process (involving compressing the surface with quartz) to give very shiny jet black results, which became much more popular, but they're less sturdy so they're used mainly decoratively these days.

a famous artist who promoted the technique in the 80s and 90s was Carlomagno Pedro Martínez, who makes skulls and intricate figurines inspired by indigenous folklore stories

link: Oaxacan art

[dknuth]

Oaxaca - Santo Domingo

When the Dominicans were invited to come to Oaxaca they built their grandest monastery in the city of Oaxaca, Santo Domingo de Guzman. Yes, Saint Dominic was from the Spanish family Guzman.

Work on Santo Domingo began in 1551 but it wasn't inaugurated until 1608.

Santo Domingo sits on the hill at the opposite end of Alcalá, the pedestrian street, forming the northern anchor with the cathedral and zocalo as the southern.

It's by far the largest and grandest of the Dominican monasteries we visited this year. The inside is the most richly decorated.

There are several large gilded retablos in the side chapels too.

On the ceiling under the choir is a large family tree of St. Dominic. It is doubtless a little embellished.

The large front is impressive day and night.

Like all the monasteries it suffered when the state closed them and it was put to various uses: stable, military base, warehouse, etc. The church was closed to worship from the 1850's to the 1870's.

The monastery is now a cultural museum, and the grounds are a Ethnobotanic Garden. Both are excellent institutions.

The monastery has been excellently restored and maintained. Last time we were here they were finishing a newly carved retablo for a side altar and were applying gold leaf to the whole thing.

We didn't visit the museum or garden this year, having done that several times, but I think next year it will be time for both.

The community had to fight to get the military base closed and create the Ethnobotanic garden. The garden features local plants with a focus on their uses in Oaxacan culture, which can be fascinating. You need to be on a guided tour of the garden to enter and that makes sense as the guide will explain the uses of all the plants. The first time we went through we were with the Frontera Restaurant group and it really enhanced the experience to listen to the discussion between Rick Bayless and the guide.

The streets around the entrance are a focal point of Oaxacan life with music, art, crafts, food from street vendors and restaurants. It's almost always interesting to walk through the area.

For me, a visit to Oaxaca is really not complete without a visit to the area and to the church itself.

[kaz-foxsen]

AI Art Quest: Tattooed Cat Part 2

To read Part 1, click here: https://www.tumblr.com/kaz-foxsen/709160129308819456/ai-art-quest-the-tattooed-cat?source=share Next, I wanted to try upscaling.

I picked an image I liked and edited it in Photoshop to fix up that blank area, get rid of the whiskers, and make the design conform to the cat's anatomy better (I used Warp to stretch the design then painted some light and shadow over it).

I used the Ultimate SD upscale script, but I couldn't get realistic results with upscaling.

Maybe the pattern was too delicate?

I picked another image with a bolder design to try upscaling (after fixing it in Photoshop)

My upscales kept coming out too smooth and the tattoos were sloppy.

I don't think such a regal cat would get work done in some scratcher's kitchen!

Prompt: a ((photo)) of a tattooed sphynx cat, colorful Oaxacan patterns, thick intricate tattoo linework, blackwork tattoo, fuzzy skin, skin pores, ((detailed irises))

Negative prompt: fur, hair, whiskers, digital painting, fake, deformed, ugly, ((plastic)), ((cleft chin)), asymmetrical tattoo, ((asymmetry)), scratcher, crooked lines, scratchy lines, wiggly lines, scribble, ugly, gross, messy linework, amateur, warped pupils, lumpy chin, chin tumor, ((oil painting)), painting, shiny skin, 3D rendering

Steps: 40, Sampler: DPM2 Karras, CFG scale: 7, Seed: 366182082, Size: 1024x1536, Model hash: 00839a9f17, Model: kkw-FANTAREAL-V1.0, Denoising strength: 0.2, Mask blur: 4, Ultimate SD upscale upscaler: R-ESRGAN 4x+, Ultimate SD upscale tile_width: 512, Ultimate SD upscale tile_height: 512, Ultimate SD upscale mask_blur: 8, Ultimate SD upscale padding: 32 After asking for help in r/StableDiffusion, I read the suggestion to change the upscaler from R-ESRGAN 4x+ to LDSR.

I got better results, but there were still problems that couldn't seem to be solved by one Sampler:

The settings common to both images: Prompt: a photo of a tattooed sphynx cat, colorful Oaxacan patterns, thick intricate tattoo linework, blackwork tattoo, geometric pattern tattoo, ((fuzzy skin)), velvet skin texture, pores, ((detailed irises)), smooth lips, ((((good tattoo)))), realistic skin details, (((photograph))) of a cat, (((thick linework))) tattoos

Negative prompt: whiskers, digital painting, fake, deformed, ugly, ((plastic)), ((cleft chin)), asymmetrical tattoo, ((asymmetry)), scratcher, crooked lines, scratchy lines, wiggly lines, scribble, ugly, gross, messy linework, amateur, warped pupils, lumpy chin, chin tumor, ((oil painting)), ((((painting)))), shiny skin, ((3D rendering)), airbrushed, ((rough lips)), ((plastic ears)), sloppy tattoo, cartoony, cartoonish, illustration, smudged, smeared, ((fine lines)), scratchy lines

Steps: 20, CFG scale: 10, Seed: 306356658, Size: 1024x1536, Denoising strength: 0.22

When I use Automatic 1111's "Interrogate CLIP" feature, it reveals that apparently, the AI thinks my cat is wearing a sweater! That's probably why it looks roughly textured and a bit like embroidery.

Also, having or removing "Carlos Catasse" didn't seem to affect much at a Denoising Strength of 0.22.

I took the interrogated prompt and altered it to create img2img results with much better tattoos:

Settings I used for both new images:

Steps: 20 Sampler: Euler a CFG scale: 10 Seed: 306356658 Size: 1024x1536 Model hash: 00839a9f17 Model: kkw-FANTAREAL-V1.0 Denoising strength: 0.22

Since another suggestion in the thread was to improve my image's lighting, I considered that the shadows might make the image look more stylized than I wanted.

I tried really hard to change the lighting using Instruct-Pix2Pix, but couldn't alter the direction or mitigate the raging chiaroscuro going on:

I got so sick of strong shadows and excessively warty ears that I brought the image into Photoshop and did some air brushing to my image prompt.

Got some good results out of that. It's far from finished, but I'll have to continue the quest later.

prompt: a hairless sphynx cat with a tattoo on it's back and a smooth chin and yellow eyes sitting on a table next to a green background, a tattoo, photography, (((3-point lighting))), 35mm photo, photo shoot, subsurface scattering

Negative prompt: ugly, deformed, shiny skin, cartoon, painting, plastic, clay, fur, hair, whiskers, ((cleft chin)), ((((chiaroscuro)))), dark shadows, wrinkly ears, lumpy ears, warts, ugly warty ears, pimples, ((skin tags)), (((deformed ears)))

Steps: 20, Sampler: Euler a, CFG scale: 12, Seed: 3926695603, Size: 1024x1536, Model hash: 00839a9f17, Model: kkw-FANTAREAL-V1.0, Denoising strength: 0.29, Mask blur: 4

[arclantis-blog]

Opossum Alebrijes

This is an amazing animal wood carving of detailed fine art that you're going to be proud to show in your collection of alebrijes or original art, or give as a gift to someone you love. This adorable Opossum family is sure to be a lively discussion starter in your home or office for many years to come, as it is the only one in the world, and you're going to receive the original hand crafted in the enchanting towns surrounding Oaxaca, Mexico. The creative inspiration and attention to detail that gets poured into the vibrant art built by the Manos Creativas team led by the family of Florencio Fuentes Melchor is truly gratifying.

Expertly Hand Carved & Meticulously Hand Painted Opossum Alebrije Family made by local artisans from San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca, Mexico

Beautiful Oaxacan Art -- Each opossum is Created from One Piece of Copal Tree Wood

This colorful art is magnificent: original, exclusive & uniquely original ... the Only One in the World.

Collectible Artesania Mexicana Folk Art by Local Artists from the Manos Creativas Workshop

Genuine Oaxaca Alebrije Originated in San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca, Mexico

Signed on Bottom by the Artist, Florencio Fuentes

Opossum Mom = 8.5" tall x 12" wide x 4" deep; weighs approximately 1 lb 10 oz; Opossum Kids = 3.75" tall x 6" wide x 2" deep; weigh approximately 4 oz;

This Oaxacan Opossum represents two weeks of artistry to complete: 4 days of carving, sanding, prep; 10 days to paint

Handmade Alebrijes are shaped creations based on artist imaginations, dreams or fantasies. The hand carving process uses knives and machetes to shape the copal tree wood, with expert painters creating designs unique to each artist. They may be cleaned with dry or wet cloth. San Martin Tilcajete is a community that concerns itself with the environment, and we reforest our raw materials such as the copal tree.

To learn more about the product, click here.

Please check out other Luv2Brd products, here.

[formeryelpers]

Café Santo, 520 Whittier Blvd #D, Montebello, CA 90640

If you’re looking for Oaxacan hot chocolate, this is your place. One of the founders is from Oaxaca, so they take their hot chocolate very seriously and even have their own chocolate bars. The coffee beans that they serve are ethically sourced from Latin America.

Café Santo is the coffee option at BLVD MKRT, the food hall in Montebello. Located in the outdoor section, Café Santo is housed in a repurposed shipping container. It’s small, so there is no interior that’s open to customers. Order at the walk-up window.

They had a few pastries (items were not labeled) like muffins, cookies, danish. You can also order off a short menu, but they had taped over many items, so basically they only had French toast, avocado toast, Quiche Lorraine, egg salad sandwich, toast with jam, and bagels.

Avocado toast ($12): Avocado, olive oil, lemon zest, salsa macha, cherry tomatoes on a country bread. I was surprised it took nearly 20 minutes to get the avocado toast and there was only one food order ahead of mine (a single person who ordered one thing). I thought they forgot about me. Though I was cranky by then, their avocado toast won me over. It seemed to be carefully made using quality ingredients. The cherry tomatoes were halved (I hope they didn’t halve them one at a time and place each one carefully on the avocado mash), the generous avocado mash covered the toast completely, and they sprinkled the toast with olive oil, salsa maca, poppyseeds, sesame seeds, and lemon zest. The salsa maca is like a mildly spicy chili oil. The country bread was thin and chewy, good quality bread. Also, the toast was pretty big!

Cappuccino ($4.75): basic foam art, pretty good flavor, on the stronger side but not bitter

They don’t have lowfat or nonfat milk. The storage container looked stylish and they had a few small tables and chairs outside, along with some plants.

4 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[a-captions-blog]

[Image descriptions: Four infographic squares about fires in Oaxaca. Long descriptions follow.

1. Art by TonyHernandezSantiago showing a line of people carrying baskets on their backs and jugs of water on their heads. The hills in the distance behind them are on fire, with smoke filling the air. Text reads, ‘Oaxaca is on fire / urgent call to action: immediate mutual aid and support.’ 2. and 3. Text reads: As of February 26th 2024 a devastating forest fire has swept through Los Valles Centrales in Oaxaca, begging with the Pueblo of San Lucas Quiaviní. Due to the ongoing drought and wind currents, the fire has quickly spread to the neighboring Pueblos of: San Pablo Guila, San Dionisio Ocotepec, Santiago Matatlan, and San Felipe The Mexican government and Oaxacan officials have failed to send immediate aid to the Zapotec communities of this region. The Oaxacan government refuses to help, forcing the indigenous people of these Pueblos to risk their lives to combat the fire themselves with limited resources and equipment. As of today, the community of San Lucan Quiviní is mourning the loss of lost 5 men—heroes who died fighting the fire to protect their Pueblo. Their names were: Rafael Antonia Morales-PI/DI (65), Pedro Curiel Lopez (64), Felipe Garcia (41), Celso Diego (65), and Jose Hernandez (47). May they rest in peace. The families of these heroes are asking for support as they grieve and arrange for proper burials. Indigenous peoples are losing their lives and going missing to combat the fires and defend their lands as the government fails to provide assistance. 4. A slide with two QR codes and text that reads: Donate Funds are needed to support the impacted Pueblos! Our goal is to raise enough funds for short term and long term support. Venmo: Liliana Palma @ZapotecTravelByLily Zelle: Liliana Palma info@ZapotecTravel.com @ZapotecTravelByLily is a trusted community member based in Oaxaca who we are in communication with to collect funds and distribute items to folks on the ground. \End descriptions]

linktree compiling other places to donate

[casaoaxacatj]

There's a hidden gem in Tijuana that's been captivating the hearts and palates of locals and travelers alike - Casa Oaxaca TJ. This beacon of culinary excellence stands as a testament to the rich cultural tapestry of Oaxaca, serving up dishes that are not only a feast for the taste buds but a journey through the history and heritage of Mexican cuisine. Amidst the lively streets, Casa Oaxaca TJ has forged a sanctuary where food is an art form, and every meal is a celebration of life. Our story is woven from the love of Oaxacan culinary traditions, each plate a narrative of flavors, colors, and textures that convey the soul of our people. ??? But why stop at just experiencing our cuisine. We invite you to delve deeper, to become part of our story by joining the Casa Oaxaca TJ Birthday Club. It's more than just a membership; it's an entry into a world where your birthday is honored with the pomp and splendor it deserves. Exclusive offers, special surprises, and a sense of belonging await you in this unique club. Imagine celebrating your birthday with us, surrounded by the warmth of our hospitality and the unparalleled taste of Oaxaca right at your table. Don't let another year pass by without this extraordinary experience. Join now and let us celebrate the joy of life together. Discover more and sign up today at:

[jimbotimes]

LIMITED-TIME ONLY: STEAL OUR K-TOWN IS OK SHIRTS AND OUR BRAND-NEW STICKER

LIMITED-TIME ONLY: STEAL OUR K-TOWN IS OK SHIRTS AND OUR BRAND-NEW STICKER ⬇️

We announce a special bargain-rate for K-Town Is OK, our shirt in collaboration with Helen Kim, along with a new sticker for Los Cuentos!We also remind listeners of our IG Live with L.A. City Council Member taking place Thursday, February 16th at 7 PM. For more of these updates and then some, please follow the show on Apple or Spotify, then rate and review us!And if you’d like to tune into the…

[anth489project]

Photo #1: "Free Gaza" graffiti

This is a picture of the words "Free Gaza" spray-painted on the back of a street sign int he South End. The sign is located on regent Street at a major intersection heading northwest into town from Highway 69. It's a spot that sees a lot of traffic every day, from people heading into town for work in the morning on weekdays to people headed north to their camps on the weekends.

Graffiti itself is inherently an act of resistance because it involves an individual or group leaving their mark on a public space in an unsanctioned way, either to send a specific message or to simply assert their presence and occupy a space. This was shown in Magaña's Cartographies of Youth Resistance (2020) with his discussion of the Oaxacan street art collectives and the many example photographs, such as El Juarez Punk. There is obviously nothing quite on the same level as the Oaxacan street art collectives here in Sudbury, but we do have our fair share of graffiti artists who leave their tags all over the city.

One example that I would've loved to have shared has unfortunately been cleaned up, so there's nothing to take a picture of. In 2018, somebody climbed up the water tower and painted the word "skoden" (Indigenous slang for "let's go then") over the word Sudbury. The man arrested for it was a mixed Cape Verde Creole and Anishinaabe artist. I couldn't find whether he has made any comments about the reason or meaning behind the painting - so this is completely my own interpretation and it very well could be wrong - but I believe that intentionally covering the word Sudbury with an Indigenous slang word was probably a statement on the fact that we are living on, using, and profiting off of Indigenous land. The word "skoden" could have been chosen as a way of telling settlers and colonizers to leave the land. There are plenty of other tags I've seen around and couldn't get pictures of, but that one is probably the most meaningful to me.

To get back to the point of the post and the photo I took, I chose to highlight this "Free Gaza" tag not only because of graffiti being an intrinsically subversive act, but because of the message. The movement to free Palestine has existed for years, but has gained much more traction since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel and started the Israel-Hamas War, exacerbating the already tenuous Israel-Palestine conflict. The Free Palestine movement has been an incredibly prominent example of guerrilla urbanism in recent months. From graffiti to protests to encampments, people have been using urban space in unsanctioned ways to bring awareness to the conflict and give voice to the oppressed (ie. Palestinians) who cannot use their own voices. One incredibly relevant example is the Occupy UW movement, where pro-Palestine students created an encampment on the lawn of the Grad House to boycott against entities complicit in the Gaza genocide and encourage the university to divest its pro-Israel affiliates. I haven't been in Waterloo, so I couldn't get a picture of it, but encampments like this have popped up at universities around the world for guerrilla grassroots organizers to show their support for Palestine.

Word count: 547

Works cited: Magaña, M.R. (2020). Cartographies of Youth Resistance. University of California Press.

Occupy UWaterloo [@occupyuwaterloo]. (n.d.) Posts [Instagram profile]. Retrieved July 15, 2024, from https://www.instagram.com/p/C66FGP2rTuD/?img_index=1.

Skindigenous. (2021, November 24). Facebook. Retrieved July 15, 2024, from https://www.facebook.com/Skindigenous/photos/a.1608856999409979/2693191534309848/.

Sudbury police make arrest in 'skoden' graffiti water tower case. (2018, November 27). CBC News. Retrieved July 15, 2024, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/arrest-skoden-water-tower-1.4922768.