PELICANS

Mazatlan has such breathtaking stretches of coastline. One can join walkers, skaters, bikers, runners, and the like along the popular malecon that follows the oceanfront. You can sit at a local restaurant or bar and enjoy one of our sensational sunsets. You can swim or surf or beachcomb. However you experience the ocean, pelicans are most likely to be a part of the scene.

Rosemary is enchanted by pelicans. So when she came over for a PLAYDAY in my studio this week, she had pelicans on the brain. She loves to photograph them and capture them in all phases of flight and feeding. She proceeded to create a pelican scene by painting with thickened dyes on cotton. She first created a stencil and painted five bold pelicans on cloth. She next added three more pale pelicans, and topped it off with some lovely pale sky painting. Using plexiglass as stamps, she made a matching meter to use as a border. I can’t wait to see her finished product.

She plans to create a panel to cover her bathroom window in her home in Toronto.  That is sure to carry her back to the breathtaking beaches of Mazatlan with pelicans floating overhead.

And here's the finished product! Lovely isn't it!

TRAVELING

I’ve just returned from a trip. Tom and I joined three other couples on a near-three week journey around central Mexico, in particular, Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Valle de Bravo, Morelia and surrounding areas of these cities. We had our wonderful guide, Luis Miguel, with us to act as our driver, story teller, historian, language instructor, music aficionado, culture consultant and friend.
Everyone in Mazatlan told us that our destination cities would be “mucho frio”, so we packed extra sweaters, turtlenecks, a hat, scarves, etc. My little suitcase was packed to the brim, but I did find a tiny space for some handwork: two collages of applique work that I would later turn into pillow covers.  They fit well into a gallon size Ziploc, along with a needle, a few bright bundles of embroidery thread, and my itty bitty Swiss Army knife, complete with mini-scissors.

Our weather was beautiful so half of the clothes in my suitcase were ignored. And our days were busy and involved which left little time for hand sewing. My Ziploc and its contents were ignored too.
So now home, I have pulled out this project and started on it. I designed the collage prior to leaving and now find it so connected to what I experienced on my travels. We made daily visits to the amazing archaeological sites of the area, climbing pyramids and temples along our route. I think this piece reflects much of the amazing beauty and history of Mexico that I experienced these last three weeks.