Come and Gone - Cycle of Life and Death

One of the biggest events in the world, Dia de Muertos, has come and gone in Oaxaca. As always from the end of October to beginning of November, it was a phenomenal week of sights and sounds, tradition, jubilee and reverence.

 

Amy and I live outside of the city and usually stay at home most of the week. But during Dia de Muertos, we go to see events almost every day. This year, friends from the USA arrived to Oaxaca to enjoy the fanfare and we had the pleasure to meet them and share good times.

Día de Muertos in Oaxaca is a vibrant and deeply spiritual celebration honoring deceased loved ones. The city and villages transform with colorful altars (ofrendas), marigold flowers (cempasúchil), candles, incense, and offerings like food, drinks, and personal mementos. Processions, music, and community gatherings fill the streets. On November 1-2,  families spend time in cemeteries where loved ones have been laid to rest. Graves are covered with flowers to honor and summon back the souls of the deceased. 

(Street celebrations. About 5 min.)

I like going to the graveyards to see the transformations. I try to be extremely respectful about taking pictures. Our village cemetery becomes awash with vibrant orange cempasúchil and blood red cockscomb. It touches me deeply that not a grave goes unnoticed. All the buried folk have flowers thoughtfully placed on their grave to serve as remembrance.

(A visit to our village cemetery. About 2 3/4 min.)

Beyond the festivities, Día de Muertos reflects a profound connection to the cycle of life and death. It is a time to acknowledge mortality not with fear but with reverence, love, and gratitude. By inviting the spirits to return, families strengthen ties between the past, present, and future, celebrating life’s continuity and the enduring presence of ancestors in daily life.

Our ofrenda for Dia de Muertos, 2024

The Thrill

 Living on the outskirts of Oaxaca de Juárez, each year as Día de Muerto approaches, I can feel the city’s pulse quicken with the thrill of preparations. My wife and I make frequent drives into town, passing fields alive with bright marigolds and deep crimson cockscomb, their colors vivid against the landscape. With years of practice, the farmers cultivate with uncanny precision so that the blooms arrive perfectly for the ceremonies. People buy armfuls to tote home and decorate. Then again, every grave will be laden with flowers. 

In Oaxaca, the transformation is everywhere. Calaveras—skulls of all shapes and sizes—are popping up, and intricate ofrendas, altars, are built with care, honoring loved ones with candles, flowers, food, and photos. I feel my own excitement grow, knowing the city will soon be buzzing with festivals and gatherings.

As a photographer and artist, this season is irresistible. Usually we go to town about 3 days a week. But soon I will go every day and spend evenings as well, amidst the raucous and jubilant celebrating. There’s something breathtaking in every corner: faces painted in skeletal designs, roving musicians and bands, intricate papel picado dancing in the breeze, altars adorned with memories. At its peak, in the evening, the closed streets are wall to wall with festive people, mostly in costume. 

 Día de Muertos is not just a time of remembrance but a time of vivid, visual storytelling.

Wellspring of Inspiration

 

In our casa in the village of San Pedro Ixtlahuaca, near Oaxaca, in southern Mexico, Amy and I have found solace, inspiration and a canvas for our artistic souls. We love our classic adobe home, surrounded by plants, fields and mountains, set in a typical Mexican community. 

We serve our neighbors by giving art lessons to children. We offer projects and teach skills, provide all the materials while including refreshments. Children go away happy and proud, taking with them their artwork to share with their family. 

Our quiet life allows us to immerse ourselves in the rhythms of this world while still offering the enchanting proximity to the vibrant heart of internationally acclaimed Oaxaca.

Two or three times a week, we embark on a short journey to the city. There we buy foods we cannot find in the village, visit a marvelous ex-pat lending library, buy art supplies, and purchase the best artisan breads and pastries at a popular bakery. Sometimes I stop to swim at Hotel Victoria where we bought a membership that gives us access to the pool. Amy relaxes under an umbrella and we share lunch.

I always carry my camera to find opportunities for street photography. 

Usually we come upon a celebration happening⏤with music and lively street performances. 

Oaxaca serves as a melting pot of creativity, where artists from different backgrounds converge to express themselves. Engaging with this artistic kaleidoscope fuels our imagination and provides fresh perspectives to infuse into our creations. Galleries showcase a diverse range of works, from traditional folk art to contemporary masterpieces. Furthermore, now we both are represented at one of the Oaxaca’s finest art venues: Cuatrosiete Galeria. They gave us an exclusive two person show during peak tourist time: this years Dia de Muertos celebration.

When we return to our rural village, I exclaim how exciting Oaxaca is. It is wellspring of inspiration for two artists like us. We carry home echoes of Oaxaca's vibrant cultural symphony. Our quiet life is a canvas onto which we paint the stories, colors, and melodies we've absorbed during our time on earth.

We now have a new website showcasing our Mexican inspired art: Dos Venados

Change of Season

Last weekend’s Dia de Muertos celebrations burst with color, sight and sounds. In downtown Oaxaca, marching bands, street performers, face painting and people dressed in "muertos" costumes injected excitement everywhere. The festivities were for about four days. 

Some fields around our home in the little village of San Pedro Ixtlahuaca came alive with color as crops of marigolds and cockscomb, timed for Dia de Muertos arrived in full bloom on schedule. Then with a rush, people swept in and bought all the flowers, taking them home for ofrenda altars, to decorate entries, setting them at the graves of loved ones or decorating businesses.