Update on the Printer

This morning I wrote that the printer was supposed to call me today to let me know that she had a sample of my Christmas card ready for approval.  True to her word, she called around 11 o'clock this morning.  I went back to the location in Condesa, and when I arrived, she met me at the door with the sample.  The quality of the picture was very good, and the English words were all spelled correctly.  I told her to go ahead and print the cards.  They will be ready next Thursday.  The print shop that I went to previously could certainly learn a lesson on customer service from this lady with her humble, at-home business.

Of course, the subject of my painting is always a secret.  You will have to wait until December after the cards have been sent and received before I will show you what the card looks like.

Here are a few of the cards from years past...

2017 - Dusk at Tlalpujahua, Mexico

2019 - Street in Coyoacán, Mexico

2020 - Lake Hallwil, Switzerland

And here's the painting for the first Christmas card that I did...

2004 - New England Winter

 

Paint Time

My constant traveling schedule has pushed my hobby of landscape painting to the back burner.  I used to do a lot of painting.  I was even a member of the local fine arts club, participated in their shows, and sold a painting from time to time.

Now I am generally doing just two paintings per year.  One is a small canvas which I use for printing off my own Christmas cards, and the other is to donate to the annual charity auction of the Ohio chapter of "Los Amigos de las Américas".  The auction is held each April, so each year when I return from my winter trip to Mexico, I must get started painting.

The picture is already about one fourth completed, and, as usual, the theme is Mexican.  I picked a photo that I took last year as the inspiration.

I took this photo of a typical street scene in the small town of Tlalpujahua, a picturesque former mining town in the mountains of the state of Michoacán.  I say that it is the inspiration for my painting, and not a faithful rendering.  Already there are enough differences between the painting and the photo that it is more than just "artistic license".  

The canvas is fairly large... 36 inches by 24... so I have been working diligently on a nearly daily basis.  I must finish it by the end of the month, and deliver it to member of the auction committee.  Once again, I will not be able to attend the auction, since I will be in Mexico again when it is held in mid-April.

I will post a photo of the painting here when I have completed it.

Christmas Card 2017

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that each year I create my own Christmas cards.  It is something that I have been doing since I retired in 2004.  Each autumn I paint a small picture, usually based on a photo which I have taken during my travels.  I then scan the painting to my computer, and in October I print off my cards.  Since 2011, I have been traveling to Mexico each November.  I take the cards and a box of envelopes with me, and by the time I return home before Thanksgiving, the cards are all ready to send.  My friends all expect my card to be the first that they receive each season.

By this time everyone has received my card... even my cousins in Europe.  So I shall now unveil the 2017 card here on my blog.

The painting is entitled "Twilight in Tlalpujahua".  Tlalpujahua is a small town in the state of Michoacán which Alejandro and I visited earlier this year.  I took the original photo from a rooftop restaurant where we were having supper.  Not only is Tlalpujahua a beautiful, colonial town, but it is Mexico's number one producer of blown glass Christmas ornaments.  So, it seemed an obvious choice for this year's card.

Best wishes to all of my readers for a very joyous holiday season!

Sunset in Tlalpujahua

Last Saturday after our exploration of the town of Tlalpujahua, it was early evening before we ate.  We went to a place called "La Terraza", a rooftop restaurant atop the "House of Santa Claus" (see previous post).  There were not a huge number of dining choices here, but I think we ended up at the best place in town.  It certainly was the restaurant with the best view in town.

We started off with a delicious soup called "sopa de la milpa" (soup of the cornfield).  In addition to corn it contained "chayote" (a Mexican vegetable), squash and Swiss chard.

For my main dish I had "cecina", thin slices of beef that has been salted, marinated and dried.  Served with it was a "corunda", a triangular shaped "tamal" that is typical of the state of Michoacán, rice, beans and an "enmolada", a tortilla covered in "mole".

Alejandro had a traditional dish of Michoacán, chunks of pork served with "verdolagas", a green plant which is called purslane in English.

We finished with slices of a cake flavored with "cajeta", Mexican caramel.

We purposely ate our meal in a very leisurely manner because we could see that this would be a good spot from which to view the sunset.  Indeed, it was the perfect ending to a very tasty meal.

Mexico's Frankenmuth

If you have ever traveled in Michigan, you may be familiar with the town of Frankenmuth, the home of Bronner's Christmas Wonderland.  Bronner's promotes itself as the world's largest Christmas store.

In the state of Michoacán (not Michigan) in the town of Tlalpujahua, there is another store where Christmas lives all year long... "La Casa de Santa Claus" (the House of Santa Claus).

The store is owned by the Muñoz family, the same family that introduced the art of glass-blowing to the economically dying town of Tlalpujahua in the 1960s.  In 1965 Joaquín Muñoz established the factory “Adornos Navideños”, which produces hand painted, blown glass Christmas ornaments.  Today there are more than 150 workshops in the town, but “Adornos Navideños” remains the biggest and most important.  It is the largest Christmas ornament factory in Latin America, and among the five largest in the entire world.  The factory employs 500 workers. 

A two story Christmas tree stands within the entrance to the store.

There are other handicrafts for sale besides ornaments... some of them are not even related to Christmas.  However most of the store is filled with bin after bin of glass decorations.

"La Casa de Santa Claus" in Michoacán is small compared to Bronner's in Michigan, but this store in Tlalpujahua has one big advantage over Bronner's.  Nothing is "made in China"; everything is "hecho en México"!

Magical Tlalpujahua

I have written in earlier posts that the Mexican Secretariat of Tourism awards the designation of "Pueblo Mágico“ (Magic Town) to towns that are unique for their beauty, culture or historic importance.  I have visited a number of "Magic Towns", but the one that Alejandro and I visited this past weekend is one of my favorites.  We went to Tlalpujahua, a town of about 3700 people in the state of Michoacán.

It is about a three hour drive from Mexico City.  Most of the trip was along toll roads, but the last half hour we traveled along a winding two-lane road that took us into the mountains.

Tlalpujahua was founded in 1593 as a mining town.  By the late 19th century, its was the country's leading producer of gold.  That ended however in 1937 when a landslide buried one third of the town and put an end to mining operations.  The town languished, and the population declined to about 600 people. 

Then in the 1960s, a former resident of Tlalpujahua returned to his home town after a sojourn in the United States and started a company making blown-glass Christmas ornaments.  There are now two Christmas ornament factories and around 150 smaller workshops.  The industry accounts for around 70% of the economy.

The town's designation as a "Magic Town" has also brought tourism to Tlalpujahua, although most visitors are from Mexico.  I was the only "gringo" that I saw.

The town's hillside location means that wherever you go, you are going to climb or descend the cobblestone streets.  Good walking shoes are a must.

There are two plazas in the town.  One is a lovely spot with fountains and a bandstand.

 

The Church of San Francisco, which faces the plaza is quite pretty inside, and the cloister of the former Franciscan monastery is picturesque.

Uphill there is another plaza called the "Plaza Mayor" which is a paved area.  On this weekend is was the site of an open-air market selling ceramics and pottery.

From the "Plaza Mayor" a flight of steps leads to the town's most important church, the 18th century Sanctuary of Our Lady of Carmen.

The interior of the church is exceptionally beautiful.

There were images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary lined up all along the side walls of the church.  Alejandro thought that they were probably from other churches and villages, and that they had been brought here for Holy Week.

While we were there, a pair of images were taken from the church to be returned, we assume, to their home location.  The departure was celebrated with a band playing and firecrackers set off.

Moments later another image was removed from the church, and paraded through the town's streets.  Again it was marked with firecrackers and music.

This process apparently continued all weekend.  We would frequently hear the fireworks and music, and the next day we saw another statue carried through the streets.  These ceremonies made our visit to this fascinating town even more memorable.

Greetings from Tlalpujahua

Alejandro and I are taking a weekend excursion to Tlalpujahua, a beautiful town with a tongue-twisting name in the state of Michoacán.  It was designated a "Pueblo Mágico" (Magic Town), and it certainly deserves that designation.  I will write more about it in future posts, but for now here are few pictures of this truly magical place.