Happily in Mexico

Jean Pierre and Roberto

Casa Elena

Mary Z. and Sally in Diego Riviera Museum

Yael, Archie, Susan and Mary L. in Roberto's studio

One of Roberto's tapestries

Just finished Yelapa Journey tapestry and cartoon

February 3, 2013

CATCH-UP REPORT FROM MEXICO

It has been a whirlwind several weeks since I arrived in Mexico City January 14. I was blessed with an easy flight and taxi ride into town. Arrived to a pleasant greeting from the counter at Hotel Cathedral. After getting settled in my room I had a pleasant dinner visit with one of the other exhibitors soon followed by  a larger group of artists. The gathering grew and my roommate appeared to complete the scene. A good night's sleep rested us for the day Jean Pierre and Yael had prepared for us. After that, it's a blur of heavenly visits to museums and historical sites. Between the Diego Riviera Museum and Frida Kaloh's Blue House we visited an artist friend of JP and Yael's. Roberto and his wife were delightful hosts and we stayed there much longer than was planned. The whole time we were in the company of their friend Laura, whom I had met and thoroughly enjoyed last year. Some of her wonderful watermelon thread and bead jewelry was on exhibit at Roberto's and i fell in love with them. Later in Oaxaca we had coffee together in the Zocolo and I chose one necklace and some earrings of hers. They'll be such a great reminder of this lovely and interesting woman.

The second day was devoted to more museums including the unbelievable Anthropology Museum. Mexico City is incomparable.

Our third day was devoted to the trip from Mexico City to Oaxaca City. I arrived at my home away from, "Las Mariposas" a little wobbly from some sort of systemic disorder that hit me during the bus ride. Must have been an 18 hour "something" because I was fine by the next day. We jumped right into the symposium at the San Pablo Foundation with fifteen minute talks by all the artists complete with translations into Spanish and English. Very exciting to see the work and hear from everyone. That was continued into the next day at the end of which was the opening of the exhibit. That was spectacular. The San Pablo facility is just next door to the Oaxaca Textile Museum where the opening was held. Beautiful old buildings remodeled very sensitively by an outstanding Mexican architect. Simply a joy to be in its midst. I joined my north coast fellow artists and Mary Z. for a delightful dinner at the end of the passageway facing the San Pablo. Only the beginning of the great quest for the best mole. It just keeps going. Each one is  better than the last. Sometimes difficult to hold even partially to my salad regime.

Sunday we were whisked away from the city to an amazing welcome by the weaving community of Teotitlan del Valle where we were to spend the week visiting with weavers, exchanging tips and techniques and touring the area. We were welcomed at the Mendoza compound in the middle of town by an impressive brass band composed of elders down to a six year old playing the triangle very seriously. We were ushered into a dining room with a huge long banquet table where we feasted and danced and drank mescal all afternoon before being delivered to our various homes for the week. Mary, Shirley and I were taken to Casa Elena which was hugely accommodating. Very centrally located for visits to the morning market and breakfast at Descanso Restaurant. Then, each day we were delivered by little mini-cabs to our respective studios. My daily destination was to the lovely studio of Jacobo and Maria Louisa Mendoza. Tomorrow, some descriptions and pictures from their highly productive work place. Abrazos to all,   Jackie

The Real Maiden Voyage

       

—The Real Maiden Voyage —

I did a wonderful first overnight in my new (to me) little Rialta motor home over a month ago. Peter and Mary Gealey, who have a very neatly appointed Vanagon, went for a weekend outing to Westport. We explored the shoreline below the Howard Creek Headlands camp of the Union Landing State Park facelity. One would never know that such wondrous sites existed just below those headlands we drive by so innocently on the way to Usal or Leggett to reach Highway 101.  Skip would have loved knowing about the outcrops and waterfalls that abound with flowers and shoreline specimens We went to the newly refurbished and beautified Westtport Hotel and met friends for Saturday night dinner. It makes a great roadhouse and the food is wonderful. We showed our friends the newly "done" rooms upstairs because they had relatives heading this way who would enjoy staying there. All in all a fun way to start my life with my new "home away from home." I thank the Gealeys with gusto for keeping me company on my first time out on the road and overnight. It was great.

Now, I am in Gold Beach, midway through a one week trip with my friend Sandra to visit her son here. We stopped and spent our first night in Trinidad at an apartment I had reserved so that Sandra could wake to the spectacular view of Trinidad Bay. But, alas, as sometimes is the case, the whole bay was socked in with fog you could cut with a knife.

We went with Kathy, Danny and Elena to Larapin's for dinner and spent the next day having breakfast at Kathy's, playing in Arcata with Kathy, meeting Patti for a mid-afternoon salad and spending the night at the Patrick's Point State Park. #104 had an easy walk to facilities and a perfect overlook to the shore which was still socked in. The next morning we did a good tour of other areas in this huge, beautiful park, finishing up with an overlook that miraculously opened up for a yummy view of a south facing point in the shoreline.  From there we headed north yesterday, stopping at many of the sights I wanted Sandra to see, such as Big Lagoon, Dry Lagoon and others. We tried finding a place to eat at Klamath but absolutely nothing revealed itself to us, so we drove on to Crescent City where I indulged in the most delicious fish and chips with salad for the chips. We shopped up a storm at a Rite Aid in Brookings, buying everything from nail polish and remover to mini clip-on lights for saving the electricity in the Realta. We bought cleansers, scentless candles, foil and plastic wrapper to answer some of the other forgotten necessities to a little traveling home.

I'm beginning to thoroughly enjoy driving this little vehicle. Actually, "little" is a relative description for a motor  home that is just under 22 feet long. I had to tell myself for some weeks as I was trying it out and exercising it in the Fort Bragg area that it is longer than my Dodge Caravan and that I must think "wide" turns if I want to clear things in one go of it. But now I'm experiencing the rewards of those trial runs. It drives like a dream on the highway. Thanks to Steve who urged me to buy this one with it's 2002 VW motor, it has absolutely no problem on hills up or down. Every "savy" male  who has advised me has said to use the gears when going downhill to save the brakes which are evidently notorious in all RVs for being rather borderline for the kind of vehicular weight they are serving. I'm doing it and overcoming the fact that I would have to look down to the gearshift on the floor to see the designations. Of course, I'm unwilling to take my eye off the road, so that was bothersome at first until I trained myself to do it by feel instead of sight. —  I'm getting there! And I'm feeling quite joyful trucking along out on the road in this lovely, beautifully designed automobile.

Sandra's son, Jesse,  lives on a knoll high above Gold beach with a spectacular view of the shoreline as well as  the mouth of the Rogue River.

9/30 Continued: 

Yesterday afternoon we took a walk high atop Cape Sebastian …… another breathtaking view and tunnel like trail in thick coastal greenery. Jesse's two children, Marisa, (9) and Ben, (6), were always ahead of us, then hiding behind some lovely trunk and popping out with screams of joy if we hadn't discovered them. What a fun and lively little pair. We returned from that tour via a great city park where more calories were burned along with more screams with their friends.

Jesse cooked an organic chicken, made cucumber and tomato salad with yummy fingerling potatoes from his garden. Totally delicious. Jesse may be a judge in his workday hours, but he's a great tour leader, father and cook in his leisure time.

Today he took us to Port Orford where we had a classic brunch spread. I had spinach salad with salmon, Sandra and Marisa had eggs plus the works, Ben had fantastic looking pancakes with blueberries and Jesse had eggs Benedict. The children ran down a path toward the beach when we were done and they discovered the most densely fruited blackberry patch I've ever seen. What a kick to watch Ben chomping them down like a steam engine.  We moved on to a museum/historical site of an old coast guard station. Port Orford Heads State Park is well appointed with diorama and model boats from all eras plus real boats and outdoor waterfront sites of the old rail track on which the coast guart used to launch their rescue boats when heading out to save a ships and boats in distress along this rugged shore.

  

We headed back, some of the time on the old highway as many of you know to be my favorite way to go. Saw Jesse's first tiny abode where he lived without heat but close, close to surfing water. That's obviously what counted most back in those days.  Reminds me a lot of Danny when we were first getting to know him. We're back at Jesse and Kelly's on the knoll and so far only talking about leaving. Jesse is making a great smelling soup using the stock from yesterday's chicken and I know Sandra wants to stay  ….sooooo … stay I'm sure we will. Then, we're hoping to wind our way down to Harris Beach state park.  Just received the "soup's on" signal, so onward, onward. A totally good and satisfactory day was had by all.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

I'M BACK.

I've been on several single track modes over the last several months. The usual obsessive work toward finishing our building project of creating a little campus at Pacific Textile Arts moves steadily ahead. Though we haven't formally received our final inspection, we have held our first rummage sale and it yielded enough to keep us afloat. We held the first small class in the large classroom several weeks ago. Sandra Lindstrom shared her secrets for making the gorgeous embroidered needle books that she sells at North Coast Artists gallery. In the process, the class also learned to dye silk ribbon and perform a small selection of embroidery stitches with both yarn and ribbon in order to adorn the covers of their books with lovely little flowers and leaves. This was a very productive first class and we owe thanks to Sandra for all her effort and expertise.

Last week we held our first actual weaving workshop. Four days with Mary Zicafoose were spent learning the basics of ikat dyeing for tapestry and rugs and then proceeded to weave our newly dyed warps on five front row looms in our new classroom. What a joy it was in every way. Mary is a superb teacher and an inspiration in oh, so many ways. It couldn't have been a better way to inaugurate the room and our impressive collection of small and medium sized looms accumulated over the years.

In the next several days I will attach some pictures of these two classes to complete the picture. I'm just forging ahead with sharing a few words with the airways right now because I can't stand the much too long hayatis from sharing my thoughts with you. Whoever you are. I know now that it's important to my health and my very being to just write and share at least several times each week and I'm vowing to do it more regularly.

Several textile events came and went during my silence. Convergence in Long Beach took place and I actually had a great time. I took two workshops. One with Terry Flynne using Braiders Hand's new core device to enhance Rodrick's introduction to core braiding. That went well and I learned a lot but still haven't been back to the city to retrieve my braiding equipment and table loom which Richard Sutherland and Michael Hattori so kindly transported by car for me. I hope to spend a weekend in the city soon to retrieve them. Thank you for your patience, Richard.

Before going to Convergence I drove Highway 20 to Immigrant Gap and on to Echo Lake to deposit Bobby with his much loved Cayotes (Kathy and gang) who first brought him over the Mexico/California border to live in the north country.  Then, after Convergence I spent six days at Echo and then brought Bobby back to his coastal paradise.

I'm off to a meeting and will continue later. Much love to all of you.

May 4, 2012

Life is Full —

The Feather in the Cap dinner is over and we enjoyed our visits with Maj-Britt Mobrand who helped us tremendously with her intimate knowledge of the eccentricities of the Glimokra Swedish looms we are trying to reassemble. Thank you so much Maj-Britt! We also enjoyed an evening with Mary Zicafoose who came to the dinner with Richard Kilday after teaching a class at the Art Center.

The saga with the building departments for the county and city continue — or I should say, refuse to come to a final signing because of the ADA requirement we have agreed to. Now all is approved for a five year period if we pave the handicap area all the way to the fence at the property line. But the man who is supposedly in charge of doing the paving says that Baxman Rock and Gravel Co. doesn't have a single order for a large paving job. They can't do a mix for our little job, so — wait we must. I talked with the building inspector and he assures me that the wait will not create any penalties against us. Obviously I need to relax a bit and not be in such a hurry to get the final.  Let go Jackie. OK.

It's not as if I don't have other pressing items on my mind. A Pacific Textile Arts newsletter needs to come to completion Waiting on two workshop dates to be established. Be patient, Jackie.

I try to do something in the yard and house each day toward the Taurus party which is almost upon us. I'm so looking forward to seeing the Larochettes and others who will be gathering. It's always a fun party. We're going to have friends from Teotitlan del Valle visiting us prior to visiting the Mendocino County museum. We have invited them to have an exhibit at the museum sometime in the future. They are bringing some rugs to the Taurus party and most of them may be purchased. I never tire of Zapotec tapestry and rug weaving — Altogether next weekend will be a time for celebration.

April 23 — Que bonito mi jardin!

It's a beautiful morning. The Tulip Magnolia is leafing out and dropping flower petals like a candy cane carpet. The Cerenthe has multiplied to a patch three times the size of last year. I brought one stalk home the year before that. I had been weeding with Kendal Smith at the Senior Center and I came upon this lively purple flower invading the bocci ball court. Of course we couldn't have that so I pulled it up. It came out of the ground easily and had a nice little root system still attached. Well, I certainly couldn't dump it with the other weeds, soooooo, I took it home and popped it into the mound out in the middle of my garden. It didn't look too perky for the next few weeks and then I lost track of it. But last year.......wow! It formed a patch about four by four feet. This year it's more than three time that big and those gorgeous little shingled flowers are a symphony of purple floating two feet above the ground. The lilac tree is more magnificent than it has been since I planted it fifteen years ago. It must be that everything in my garden actually likes the icy cool weather we've had at the end of this winter. The Noyo Chief Rhododendron is a vibrant jewel. The new Weeping Elm given to me by the MLPA has all kinds of blossom like growth just as the beautiful fanlike leaves are sprouting out.

I walked to the river with Bobby. It took me twelve minutes to go down and nineteen minutes to return. The river is still flowing quite generously. Bobby waded out about two feet in the shallows, looked at the current just beyond him and wisely returned to shore. There are still a few Trilliums standing with stubborn petals in tact both inside and outside my back gate. The little pink blossoms on the beds of redwood sorrel are like tiny sparkles that call out to you on your way up the steep hill from the river. Bobby was so watchful of my progress. He stopped and waited each time I paused to catch my breath. What a little trooper. All in all, a delightful return to a walk I haven't taken for a long time. There are a dozen reasons one can call on to avoid that walk. The occasional wild cat. The occasional individual shooting his gun out there in the forest somewhere. The huge dog on the loose from the new house built just south of us several years ago.

But all went well and it encourages me to visit it again soon. The minute I walk anywhere near the back garden gate Bobby looks like he's going to explode, he gets so excited. The next trip will be sooner than later if he has anything to do with it.

I made another trip to the river to show it to my friend Maj-Britt who was visiting from Berkeley. We each used a cane which I have decided helps quite a bit in the climb up the steep hill. Most likely it also helps while negotiating the  descent  because of the amount of gravel that has been placed  to protect from gullywashers that can cause instant revines in the steep roadway. We had a good walk and Bobby seemed thoroughly pleased to be showing us the way.

April 22, 2012  — Much water under the bridge

I've finally hit the high mark for non-communicating, I think. Everything moving at a rapid pace. Events, obligations, promises. That's life — sometimes. i'm a huge believer in pacing one's self so I mean to slow down. Actually I give myself some special quiet moments  each day.

I've been working hard try to meet all the demands of the city and county to final our building project at Pacific Textile Arts. The ADA requirements for handicap parking top the list for being complicated and difficult to be in compliance. We've finally reached an agreement allowing us to do it our way for a five year period. Then we have agreed to somehow make adjustments that will better satisfy the City's idea of what is required. Whew! 

We held our annual "Feather in the Cap " dinner last night in the new weaving studio. We honored Fernando and Francisco Diaz for their always good natured work at PTA. Karen Inwood found hats that were perfect and she placed lovely new turkey feathers in them before they were presented………Food was as tasty and creative as ever. The joy of holding this event in our own space was palpable. Mary Zicafoos had just finished teaching here class at MAC and came to the party with Richard Kilday. Such fun to have her and the Diaz family there with us for dinner and the mini auction, which had its usual mirthful moments.

I'm going to join the boule group in Mendocino no matter what happens today. It's a beautiful day. Blue sky, sun, slight breeze. Perfect for a trip to Mendocino Village.

What's ahead soon? Should complete a Pacific Textile Arts newsletter by the end of the week. Award a scholarship at the college on Thursday and receive a visit from Maj-Britt Mobrand. She's giving a lecture for the guild on Saturday and will help me to solve some of the assembly mysteries for our Glimakra looms on Friday.

Plans are moving ahead for hosting some weaver friends from Oaxaca at the Taurus Party in May. I'm really looking forward to their visit. Jean Pierre and Yael are bring another Zapotec weaver friend to the party. Fun to think of all the good conversations. 

This year we'll celebrate good health and longevity. I doubt I'll ever adapt to the idea of chronological age because I don't feel a day over sixty. But I'll definitely celebrate my good fortune despite what the numbers say. They simply don't matter to me anymore.

March 8, 2012  —  Trip home  (Sorry, but this was just found and gleaned from draft notebook long after the writing)


Home and the gone. The trip home was characterized by quick shopping spurts, fetching our stored luggage from Los Arcos, and a pleasant ride to the airport sprinkled with conversations about the changes in Vallarta with our driver, Ervin. The plane was declared to be two hours late with no explanation. Eventually Kathy's brother in law, John Shea, who was to be one of the pilots for our flight home, explained to us that problems had nothing to do with the state of the airplane (A very smooth Airbus), but the fact that United Airlines and Continental had chosen to complete their merge at 1:00 am that morning and had experienced strange and annoying computer glitches that managed to bring everything to a halt for some time. We were treated very nicely by the attendants and finished our ride with after dinner kaluha and creme even though there was no dinner served on that flight.


Larkin picked us up very promptly at the airport and after dropping John off at his apartment, we stopped at a late night pasta cafe and had delicious salads. Kathy and I drove that night to Marina Bay because we had a brunch date the next morning with family. Lovely to see them all and to get caught up a little on Mira's activities since she returned from being in Italy.

We moved on up the hill after a great breakfast to see Jenny's show at the Berkeley Art Center. I could have stayed all afternoon it is such a rich and captivating exhibition. I'm thrilled for her — and also so proud. I've heard that it has been declared by some to be the best we parted ways and both t show they've ever had there. Of course, there never is such a thing, but just to hear it said is lovely. Ths a beautifully matched three person show. I would urge anyone living within a reasonable distance to take it in before it closes and the end of March.


Kathy and I caravanned to Willits with a salad stop in Healdsberg. After filling our tanks in Willits at the Safeway station we parted ways and both had last hours winding separate ways home filled with thoughts of our time together as well as all the little things we needed to begin thinking about as we returned to our lives at home.


I've had two good swims since I returned but since the Star Aquatic Center is closed due to economic shortfalls, the lanes at the health club are filled to the brim. The good news is that the people ofFort Brag just voted to their sales tax to cover reopening and maintaining the Center under the control of the city. The pool is scheduled to open some time in June or July. That will be a big relief  to all concerned.


I came home to a huge pile of t and mail and managed to do a first and second sorting before taking Bobby for a long ride back to Marina Bay Wednesday afternoon The reason being that Sachiyo had bought tickets to se Garrison Keellor at Zellerbach Hall. After dropping Bobby off and feeding him I picked Sachiyo up and we searched for parking. Had dinner at a great little Japanese Tapa style restaurant on Telegraph Avenue. Then we did a fast walk to Zellerbach, reaching our seats just in the nick of time for two and a half hours of spellbinding stories by the master of the craft, with well timed drifts into song both alone and sometimes with a charming. long legged beauty who often sings with him on Prairie Home Companion. It was definitely worth driving bak down here for this performance. Heard nothing but awestruck raves as we walked out into the cool, Berkeley evening.


Post script: Just before leaving the hall, we made our way to the balcony lady's room. Funny comments and conversations reminded me so much of nights waiting in similar lines at Berkeley Rep. In those days, I vowed that some day I'd write a one act play taking place in such a line with all the feet showing behind the short door stalls. Such a wealth of visual moments and one liners. Who knows, if I don't write it, someone else might. — May I will.


Pictured below: Remembering the view from #5, our room on the beach in Yelapa.