Mexican Inspiration, part 2

Just a few more bits before I leave Mexico behind.

We visited the Textile Museum in Oaxaca and saw wonderfully intricate embroideries and weavings from around the area.  The museum had a small, but enticing, library of books on world textiles that would make for a great week of browsing.

I was particularly drawn to the fanciful animal embroideries, mainly black and white with little splashes of red:

All around town were giant paper mache figures.  I'm always attracted to heads, faces and masks and often use them in my artwork, so these guys were right up my alley:

These heads were part of costumes used in a Day of the Dead pageant:

And this beauty was featured in the largest altar in town, covering maybe 100 ft. of church yard steps:
I've been fascinated by paper mache figures for a long time and keep thinking they would be fun to make.  When I teach children's art classes, paper mache is always one of the favorite subjects.  I keep meaning to join in the fun, but somehow after dealing with a roomful of soggy, sticky newspaper, my enthusiasm for the medium wanes.  It dawned on me that I might be able to make some nice little heads out of paper clay.  I've never used that before, but I think it might give the effect I want and still be lightweight, without all the mess.  Something to play with after the holidays.

If you'd like to see more of Day of the Dead, Belinda Schneider has wonderful photos on her blog.