Oaxaca 24 Dec

On to San Martin Tilcajete, one of the villages where fantastic creatures are coaxed from copal wood then flamboyantly painted. (These towns all have two-part names -- the first a Spanish saint and the second an Indian name.)

We visit three carvers we know from previous trips: Estében Hernandez, Vicente Hernandez, and Margarito Melchor, whose famous cat adorns the cover of Shepard Barbash's definitive book, Oaxacan Woodcarving. All are gracious and hospitable, offering us mescal while the children run to get us chairs to sit on. Jane receives birthday hugs from everyone.

Margarito Melchor

Melchor Cat

Book Cover

Margarito Melchor

Melchor Cat

Friday 24 December Today we plan to visit Ocotlan and Tilcajete, two of the craft villages outside the city. We weigh the pros and cons of going on Christmas Eve day: Will the artisans be involved in festival preparations and our visit an intrusion? On the other hand, the artists are all likely to be at home, and Robert and Linda have long-standing friendships with most of the people we plan to visit.				Preparing Christmas Dinner


		Making Tortillas	We decide to play it by ear and be prepared to change our plans if it seems we are intruding. In fact, there are plenty of other tourists there and it is business as usual. No one minds in the least, and preparations continue simultaneously with brisk sales.

			Our first stop is Ocotlan, where the four Aguilar sisters each have their separate workshops.They all create clay figures in a somewhat similar style, but each specializes in her own subject matter. J. Aguilar Mermaid

We go first to Guillermina's, where our friends Robert and Linda are warmly greeted by the artist and her family. Guillermina's daughter is pregnant, children have grown and need to be exclaimed over, and a Christmas gift of American chocolates is delivered.

	Aguilar Family
			Today is our friend Jane's birthday, Linda explains, whereupon everyone has to give Jane a hug and say Feliz Cumpleaños. Within minutes a traditional gift of bread and chocolate materializes and is presented to Jane.

At Concepción's atelier across the highway, Robert buys this addition to his Day of the Dead collection. Monk by Concepción Aguilar	Irene Aguilar creates market scenes, like these fruit vendors.

		Paints at Josephina Aguilar's

Josephina Aguilar is known for her Ladies of the Night.
Josephina Aguilar is known for her Ladies of the Night.

	Margarito's two daughters, Rosario and Anna, are giggly, outgoing, and utterly delightful, and they love our fruit candy that turns their tongues yellow and blue. They certainly take the prize for most photogenic subjects of the day.

	Everyone buys figuras de madera (wooden figures), and we add these cool cats to our collection of animal musicians. They love to play with your mouse -- check it out.

A couple of Vicente's kids jump in the van and guide us to the studio and shop of Jacobo Angeles. We had not seen his work before, but were impressed by an elaborate armadillo that sits on the sideboard of the breakfast room at La Casa de Mis Recuerdos.

Jacobo is truly a master carver and painter, working in a style quite different from anything else we have seen. He gives us a half hour demonstration of the carving and painting process while another visitor kindly translates his narration into English. Jacobo does not need to draw on the wood in order to carve it, but for us he draws a coyote so we can see the figure in the wood as he does.

Jacobo Angeles

	He explains that there are male and female copal trees, that the wood has different properties and is therefore used for different sorts of pieces. He shows us the natural dyes he uses which come from insects, plants, and soil, and how the color is changed by the addition of lemon or honey. Each of his carvings is cured for six months and any cracks are patched with shavings of wood rather than putty.
Natural Dyes


	Carved Figures Curing Before Being Painted

While in Tilcajete, we stop in at the small village church.

			Lord of Miracles
	Virgin of Soledad
	Virgin of Soledad

The rows of saints, virgins, and madonnas are standard fare, while the disrepair of the walls speaks volumes about the poverty of the village.

Madonna and Child		Virgin of Guadaloupe
Madonna and Child

Damaged Church Wall		Original Door

	We have a late lunch around 3pm at the small café across from the stands selling black pottery in San Bartolo Coyotepec. The food is as fresh and delicious as we remember it. Then back to Oaxaca with just enough time to prepare for Jane's birthday party and dinner!
	David, Robert, Bob Linda, Jane, Marilyn, Suzy (photo by Shirley Phillips & Jane Stutfield)
				Cocktails and gifts on the patio overlooking the courtyard, with Jane dressed in her newly purchased tehuana dress and Linda dressed as Frida Kahlo, hair, eyebrows, and all.

					Tres Amigas (photo by David Smith)

At 7:30 the family has its own posada, a Christmas Eve tradition where Mary and Joseph come to the door carrying lit candles and ask if there is any room at the inn. The request and response are sung by household members taking different parts. They bring the baby Jesus in and lay him in the nativity scene.

		A series of piñatas have been strung up on ropes so they can be moved up and down. A blindfolded child (or guest!) swings at the piñata with a stick until it finally breaks and candy rains down.
	GOOD FOOD Our birthday dinner is at El Che, an Argentine restaurant at the top of Cinco de Mayo where it runs into Santo Domingo. Excellent meal, especially the steaks and my pasta with pesto, flavored with lemon and loaded with walnuts.		After dinner, Jane and Suzy attend midnight mass at Santo Domingo while the rest of us head down to the zocalo to see the more public manifestations of the posada tradition. There are neighborhood floats with children taking the parts of Mary and Joseph, and as always, live music everywhere, from formal performances on a stage in the zocalo to impromptu street musicians.

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