DIAS DE MUERTOS WITH MORGAN BRIG
Oaxaca City, Oaxaca - Mexico October 26-November 3, 2019
Morgan Brig will be joining us during a very special week of festivities held throughout Mexico, Dias de Muertos in the beautiful UNESCO city of Oaxaca. Last year when we were there, there were so many parades and celebrations, it was hard to keep up!
This will be Morgan's first time in Oaxaca and she is very excited to share these magical little creatures with you. You are going to have so much fun making these!
This will be Morgan's first time in Oaxaca and she is very excited to share these magical little creatures with you. You are going to have so much fun making these!
By Morgan Brig
(Aren’t these adorable?!)
We are keeping the scale small so that you can make several and have room to carry your new little creations home in your suitcases.
You will learn how to sculpt, braise and enamel copper. You will be limited only by your imagination - are your design wheels turning yet?
Cowboy by Morgan Brig
We will also take time to observe the rituals and offerings for Dias de Muertos that honor the spirits of the dead. Traditionally, friends and families honor their deceased loved ones by building altars either in their homes or at their gravesites. They surround the altars with signs of their devotion called ofrendas to honor the deceased using former possessions, sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods of the person they lost. There are many ofrendas throughout the city that you will have a chance to observe, as well as some very festive parades with fireworks, dancing bulls and large puppets.
ITINERARY
Day 1, Saturday, October 26. Everyone arrives and we will meet for introductions, a nightcap and antojitos before retiring for the night.
Day 2, Sunday, October 27. Breakfast in the restaurant before we meet in the studio at 9:30 with Morgan. Today the demo will be how to apply Apoxie Sculpt on your egg.
After comida (lunch) at 1:00, we will take a short walking tour to help familiarize you with the city.
Afterward, we will continue our class making second and perhaps a third sculpture on half of an egg. Class will end around 4:30, then there will be free time this afternoon to catch all the activities going on around us before we meet at 7:00 for a fiesta at our good friend, Pilar Cabrera's La Olla. Bring a wrap, we will be eating on the rooftop.
Day 3. Monday, October 28. Breakfast in the restaurant before meeting in the studio at 9:30. Today is when you learn how to torch, drill and grind. Morgan will demonstrate how to make arms with ball ends, cones, legs, and the dome base. She will also demo how to enamel, use decals and screw the base to the figure. It will be a busy day!
Comida will be at 1:00 and then we will return to the studio until around 4:30. Free time until class with Ane Elena tonight.
Mad Professor by Morgan Brig
Day 4, Tuesday, October 29. Breakfast and then a travel day to San Agustin to visit the Centro de las Artes (CASA). We’ll tour the facility and see a paper making demonstration before stopping in the shop to buy paper (oh boy!). Then it’s off to Etla for Susana Trilling’s Seasons of My Heart cooking school for a mole class. It’s a foodie’s dream.
Seasons of My Heart
Day 5, Wednesday, October 30. Breakfast in the restaurant, then meet in the studio at 9:30. Today you will learn how to attach found objects, gluing fabric, and use paint for patina. We will break for lunch and end around 4:30.
Day 6. Thursday, October 31. Breakfast, then meet in the studio at 9:00. (note the time difference) Morgan will demonstrate brazing antlers, and variations on legs. At 1:30, we will walk to one of our favorite places for comida, Marco Polo where the fish is roasted in special ovens or al hornos. The rest of the afternoon is free.
This evening we will travel to Xocotlan to quietly observe the traditions of each family as they prepare their altars and offerings to their ancestors. We will stop to eat a bite at the many vendors outside the cemetery's gate
Pic by Rene Cabrerro
Day 7, Friday, Nov. 1 Breakfast and then today we are taking it on the road as we visit my favorite potter in Ocotlán, the village of black potters. This is a very special family of potters.
Pictured above, Carlomagno Pedro Martinez and his sister
Sweetness by Morgan Brig
This trip is full, a waitlist has been started.
THIS ESCAPE INCLUDES
8 nights at Hostal de Noria or equivalent, double occupancy
Welcome reception and fiesta
All breakfasts, six lunches and 3 dinners (one lunch and dinner on your own)
Visit to local cemetery
Special Day of the Dead performances
Visit to markets
Cooking class with specific dishes for Day of the Dead
Free time to explore
Visits to local artisans
Farewell dinner at Origen with Rodolfo Castellanos, Top Chef winner 2016
A new art tribe
Price: $3,500, limited to 12 people based on double occupancy, limited single rooms are available for an additional $500.
A $1,000 non refundable deposit is due upon registration with the final payment due June 1, 2019
Price does not include airfare to/from Mexico
Accommodations: Located in a colonial building just two blocks from the zocolo, Hostal de La Noria has free wifi, a restaurant, a pool (miniscule), bar and rooftop terrace. It is located across from the Textile Museum.
Hostal de La Noria
Airport: Xoxocotlan International Airport is an international airport located in Oaxaca City, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The Airport has only one terminal that handles domestic and international air traffic. Code: OAX. There is a United direct flight from Houston that leaves around 6:15 p.m. and arrives in Oaxaca around 8:30 p.m. There is a direct United flight that leaves Oaxaca around 8:30 a.m. for your return flight.
This itinerary may change due to weather, new opportunities or the whim of the group.
Supply List
Aves Apoxie Sculpt
1 bag of wood eggs 3.25"x2.25"
bag of 6Exacto Knife
Clay Tool Set
Slotted Brass screws (1 box) #4, 1/2-inch brass
2 part expoxy glue
8 ounces Matt Medium
Extra fine point Sharpie Pen
Small slotted screw driver
Coping saw
Tin snips
Scissors
Needle and thread
Paint brushes, small, medium
Small found objects (hats, arms, torso, etc.)
Colorful string/yarn
Sand paper 320 grit
Elmers Wood glue
Rag
Small amount of fabric
Small charms to hang/attach
Fur, feathers, leather
Toy blocks (optional)
Mini glass eyes (optional)
Small ruler
Circle template
Only Time Will Tell by Morgan Brig
We Will Provide
copper for base
copper pipe, 1/4" diameter for legs
copper wire, 10 and 16 gauge
drills, bits
torches, brazing stations
brazing rods
whole face decals
wood dowels for torsos
micro brass machine screws
enamel powder
paint palettes for mixing paint
etchall
disposable gloves
Bee Boy by Morgan Brig
Next, we travel to San Martín Tilcajete where the alebrijes, those colorful wooden animals are made. There we will have a special class where you will get to paint your own animal.
Day 8, Saturday, November 2. Breakfast in the restaurant and then we meet for our final morning of studio time at 9:00. You will finish your projects then we will clean up around 12:30 to share our projects. Lunch is on your own and the afternoon is free until we have our final meal at Orijen with Top Chef winner, Rudolpho Castellanos. His restaurants here and in Mexico City routinely make the top list of places to eat in Mexico.
Day 9, Sunday, November 3. Trip is over and everyone leaves, stays on, or continues their travels. We will have transportation to the airport for the 8:30 a.m. flight to Houston.
Blessed by Morgan Brig
Textures and colors of Oaxaca
Morgan Brig is a mixed media artist from Vashon Island, WA. She loves to capture emotion in her sculptures using multiple layers of media that bring the subtlety of expression to each character. Her layers include etched metal detail, enamel patinas and found objects that suggest the old and familiar, but ask to be viewed in a new light. She often uses language and occult symbols in her designs to support her belief that there is always guidance to be found from external and internal sources as we go through life. There also is playfulness in her design inspired by her love of old metal and tin toys and her desire to lay humor next to truth or fear in her work.