Due to Covid, this trip has been cancelled.
Puebla City, Puebla, Mexico
April 10-18, 2021
Puebla is the capitol of the State of Puebla, Mexico. It’ s a tile laden city with an historic story. It is believed that the nuns of Santa Rosa Convent created mole poblano for the King of Spain. He was so thankful for this very special mole, that he sent tiles from Spain as a gift of appreciation and those tiles still line the ex-convent’s kitchen walls. For over 200 hundred years, Talavera Uriarte hand painted tiles and pottery has been created with only five colors, blue, black, yellow, green and a reddish pink. Today, Talavera de la Reyna is the more modern painted pieces that are sold world wide.
Puebla is also known for Calle de Los Dulces, or the Sweets Street lined with shops selling a wide variety of sugary treats. Lucky for us, Ana Elena Martinez, a pastry chef and owner of Margú, a bakery with four locations in Puebla, will be our guide. This is her home so she knows where to take us.
Workshop
This workshop is a collaboration of two artists, Debra Fritts and Frank Shelton, sharing their love of combining materials for art making.
Humans and animals have always inhabited the earth. We will explore the possibilities of this human/animal relationship in clay and mixed media.
A clay head will be constructed with an emphasis on facial features and the spiritual connection with an animal.
A second piece will be constructed combining the human figure and animal with mixed-media including paper, fabric, paints and plaster.
The participant can chose to either combine these two pieces or keep them separate.
ITINERARY
Day 1, April 10. Meet at 6:30 for introductions, and our first meal together.
Day 2, April 11. Today we are on the road to gather information that will inform our artwork this week. We will travel to the Talavera Factory and store.
Then we will visit the Choloula market with our friend Monica Mastretta who will also teach a cooking class in her beautiful home. If we have time and the energy, we will also visit the Zona Arqueológica de Cholula, an ancient Mesoamerican site known for its huge pyramid & tunnels.
Day 3, April 12. After breakfast, it is a full day in the classroom with Deb where we will begin building our heads. We will break for lunch and we will have dinner together this evening.
Day 4, April 13. After breakfast, it’s back in the classroom finishing up our heads, again breaking for lunch and dinner together this evening.
Day 5, April 14. After breakfast, it’s our first day with Frank. We will build our armatures and start covering them with shotcrete. We will break for lunch and hopefully our clay pieces will be going into the kiln tonight or tomorrow morning. We will have dinner together this evening.
Day 6, April 15. We will meet in the classroom after breakfast, and paint our pieces that we made with Frank. Then off we go to visit the Amparo Museum, candy lane (Puebla is known for its sweets) and we will visit our amiga, Ane Elena’s bakery where she will also teach a cooking class - hopefully of some of her delicious desserts!
Chef Ane Elena Martinez
Day 7, Arpil 16. Breakfast, then back in the classroom with Frank finishing up our pieces. Then we will break for lunch and continue with class. Dinner will be together this evening.
Price for this workshop is $3,700 and includes lodging (based on double occupancy, there are a limited number of single rooms available for $500) and all meals. A $1,000 non-refundable deposit is due now with the remaining due Nov. 15. The workshop is limited to 12.
Please do not make your plane reservations until notified.
AIRPORT: Puebla International Airport otherwise known as Hermanos Serdán International Airport. Km 91.5 Carr Fed Mexico/Pueblo Municipio, de Huejotzingo,
Airport Code: PBC. United has direct flights from Houston to Puebla. Taxis are available 24/7. Uber is around $600 pesos.
Student Supply List
plaster gauze strips
mod-podge
permanent inks and/or acrylics
brushes
scissors
optional- scrap fabric, jute, threads,etc.
clay tools - needle tool, loop tool, wire cutter, metal rib
soft brush - Debra prefers watercolor brushes, a variety of sizes, including one fine detail brush
palette paper
sketchbook or journal
banding wheel or turntable if you have one
Supplies that will be Provided
clay
engobes and underglazes
some paint
water buckets, rags
tape
newspapers
quikcrete
Day 8, April 17. After breakfast, we will have class where we will finish up our projects. We will break for lunch, then clean up and have our show and tell. You will have some free time this afternoon before we leave for our last meal together at Ajurio.
Day 9, April 18. Workshop is over and you are free to travel home or to other destinations.
Student work in Gig Harbor workshop pictured below.
Pictures by Joe Molinaro taken at the former Santa Rosa Convent.
Figure seen at Amparo Museum. Photo by Joe Molinaro
This itinerary may change due to weather, new opportunities of the whim of the group.
Debra Fritts is a studio artist working in Abiquiu, New Mexico. She received her undergraduate degree in Art Education from the University of Tennessee and continued graduate studies in ceramic sculpture, painting, and printmaking. Debra currently conducts figurative sculpture workshops at her studio, and master classes nationally and internationally.
Debra enjoys national recognition for her work in ceramic sculpture through invitational exhibitions and awards, museum exhibitions and collections, gallery representation, private collections and publications. Her one of a kind sculptures are hand-built and multiple fired with a painterly glazed surface. The work is a continuous story of awareness and the celebration of daily living.
Frank Shelton is a mixed media artist. He describes his process of working by paraphrasing a quote from the late Israeli artist, Moshe Kupferman. "...I first put in emotion and expression. Next, I cover it up. Then, I put in silence..." While the process and product are important to me, I feel both are dead without passion. It is the passion that sustains me as an artist and human being