Saturday, February 25, 2012

Gadabout Artist: Mexican Street Art

Mr. How2 and I took the opportunity to travel across the border into Mexico a couple days ago. He had some dental work he had put off way too long, and I wanted to see what everyone was talking about.
  Well, we were very pleased with the experience, the dentists are good, the food was fantastic, and the shopping exciting, since every purchase is a lesson in the art of haggling! Every item I looked at started out with a cost of $45, no matter what it was. But after learning my way around, I realized that that is just the beginning. Almost anything could be haggled to 1/2 that or less, and I really did get better as I went along.

   The only exceptions to this rule are these;
1. Always try to buy something from the tiniest vendors. I mean seriously, these kids are no more than 3-4 years old, and so cute I just wanted to cuddle them. I know that their parents are trading on their cuteness, but I just go with it, and love my collection of tiny hand-painted critters, and at only $1 each, I can indulge. At home my rule is to never pass up a Kool-aid stand, and I have had some pretty watery lemonade over the years, but it is worth seeing the little ones smile!

2. I cannot stress this enough...never, Never, NEVER, haggle with your dentist, as he/she controls the amount of pain you will feel. Trust me, when you are getting $5000+ worth of dental work done for $500, pay the man what he wants, and don't nickle and dime him to death! Mr. How2's bridge looks great, and I can't tell which tooth they replaced...

While waiting for the dentist to finish his job, I had the chance to watch, and talk to one of the street artists in the main town square. There were about four there, all set up in tents in a row, and I just picked one at random and started to watch. The skill level is amazing, and the speed is stunning, all done without the use of traditional art supplies! As I watched, and oohed and awed, my chosen artist introduced himself as "Marlon". "Just remember Marlon Brandon!" he said, with a smile...
This art is created on any surface, and I mean any! They paint on vases, lanterns, walking sticks, hats, satellite dishes, plates, wheel-covers, and, oh yeah, illustration board! As I watched, Marlon was putting the finishing touches on a ceramic vase, adding small flowering bushes, a cactus, and a tiny roadrunner. He created the entire piece using spray paint, magazine pages and pieces of a cereal box. At one point, he stopped, removed his mask, tore off a piece of cardboard, grinned and said, "Mexican paintbrush!"...
...then proceeded to add highlights to the cactus with a quick stroke and a flourish...
When I think of the hours I spend agonizing over every stroke of my brush, I am shamed. I stayed and watched for as long as I could, asking questions that were graciously answered, and learning as much as I could. At one point, someone brought Marlon two mirrored cabinet doors from their RV, and asked him to paint them a desert scene in black, grey and white. Marlon confided to me that it was much harder to paint the beautiful desert when he couldn't use his full range of colors.
So my take away from this wonderful opportunity is this; try harder to enjoy the process of painting, and loosen up. After all, there is no such thing as wasting paint, it's all just part of the journey...
Oh, and of course, my beautiful vase...

and if you ever get to Los Algodones, Mexico, stop by and say hello to Marlon for me. Until next time, enjoy...

for more information about Los Algodones, Mexico, click here...

I, unfortunately did not bring my video camera that day, but I did find this video showing some very similar techniques...



2 comments:

  1. You are way braver than I am...Mexico scares the crap outta me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We took a day trip to Tijauana once when we were visiting San Diego. We had a blast shopping, but were warned repeatedly not to stray from the main tourist street. Not sure I would do it now though. Sounds like you had a great time and the bargaining really is fun.

    ReplyDelete