Huichol art

Some Huichol yarn paintings.  Surprisingly, these art forms of using beads or yarn held in place by resin or wax didn't develop until the early 1960's supposedly at the suggestion of an American artist.  The original inspiration of many subjects is of course peyote visions.

Beaded figurines and "paintings."  There's even a VW "Bug" car covered with over 2 million beads in some museum. 

Crazy for Kokopelli

If you do an Internet search for Kokopelli, the browser might give you a list of possible choices associated with that word, such as: suites, wine, inn, golf club, images, bedding, meaning, trail and bed and breakfast.  This shows just how popular and widespread (mainly in the Southwest) Kokopelli has become.  Originally a fertility deity that caught on later with the  Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, it could represent Aztec traders from the South carrying sacks over their shoulders.  Often combining trade with storytelling and news, these men would announce their presence with flute playing before entering a village, to forestall any suspicions of the people. 

Balinese Masks

Balinese art was influenced by Hinduism and Javanese art, it is often forgotten Java was Buddhist at one point, and the Borobudur monument was created there in the shape of a huge mandala:

Owl Invasion

A few owl images.  The Greeks (Athenians at least) thought it a symbol of wisdom and put owls on their coins, since the owl was a favorite of Athena, the goddess of wisdom.  The Romans, being a more superstitious bunch, saw owls as foretellers of doom. 

Geishas out West?

An intriguing painting found at an auction, what could be two Geishas eating sushi with beer and saki at a Japanese restaurant that happened to have a painting of a desert scene on the wall, could also be taken to represent them inside a train cabin looking through a window at the sun setting over the Arizona desert.  

The writing to the right refers to sushi items like tuna, octopus, ell and mackerel and even the sign in front of the saguaro cactus refers to roasted fish, green soybeans, tempura, and various quantities of sake.  I once did an Internet search for Japanese paintings or painters who might have included such subjects, and thought I found one but then when I tried to go back to it, could not find it.  It could well have been done by a gaijin or non-Japanese, there doesn't seem to be any name on the front or back.

Folk art

Shopping with Mom

Too late to make Halloween Observations?

When I saw this Halloween display at MacDonald's, it made me start thinking how a 3 or 4 year old kid might react to it, as he is given a cup by his mom and told to go to the soda filling station and choose a drink.

I have to congratulate whoever set up this decoration, it certainly is scary and vibrant, however just put yourself in that kid’s shoes and think about how he might react.  Maybe kids today are used to this sort of thing now, who knows?

Another example of Halloween art in its Mexican style is this fabric displaying Day of the Dead motifs:

Speaking of riotous colors!  At least the swooning female is clothed, other depictions I’ve seen of Aztec warriors bearing maidens show more real estate.  I especially like the guy in the sombrero with the tequila shot glass.

Getting ready for Halloween

Small skeleton figures on table at the gun show a few years ago, part of an array of figurines, many with biker motiff.  Similar to Mexican Day of the Dead figures such as the skeleton bride and so forth, I recall a shop in Nogales, Mexico that had quite an assortment.  I will have to take some shots of them sometime if I can avoid getting shot myself, given the border situation.

You can purchase skeleton bride costume for Halloween now as well, so popular it has become.  But I kind of like these two deadbeats.  A cultural reminder of the truth of impermanence.

Spooky sculptures

I like these aged rusty homemade sculptures sitting in front yard of artist's house, presumably.  A Southwestern theme no doubt.