Thursday, December 3, 2015

Dia De Los Muertos Flamenco Dancer


Last week, I took my third trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. This time, the five days of vacation was spent primarily museum hopping and soaking in a lot of Georgia O'Keefe. One of the museums I went to was the International Folk Art Museum. Apart from the permanent collection of folk art from all over the world (huge and delightful), the museum had a special collection called The Flamenco. Unsurprisingly, it was all about the flamenco dance showcasing the dresses worn by women and men. The dresses were lovely, of course, yet, hung on the mannequin they looked inert with nothing to hint at the great waves  of motion they can produce when the dancers move in them. But, I did take a lot of photos.

When I came back, I wanted to do a painting of the dress with a human figure in it. Yet, I was reluctant to do a female figure mainly because it felt like objectification of the female body. So, I settled for a Day of the Dead  image. After all, it is very New Mexican and seemed a perfect medium for what I want to portray.

I used pencil, gel pen and watercolors to do the little painting above.

For some eye candy, below are many of the photos of the dresses. Enjoy.










12 comments:

  1. Love your dancing day of the dead piece. What a wonderful trip. Thank you for sharing some of the museum pieces.

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  2. Love your dancer, and the pictures of the dresses are fab. Happy PPF, hugs, Valerie

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  3. oh the Flamenco dresses, always fun to see in movement! Beautiful collection!
    I like your DoD dancer.

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  4. Thanks for sharing these amazing costumes from your trip. I envy you your time looking at O'Keefe's art. And your own dancing skeleton is terrific. Have a creative week.

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  5. Ooh what beautiful, colorful costumes!! I'm sure you had a most wonderful time on your vacation. Love your flamenco dancer!

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  6. Never put the Day of the Dead and a flamenco dancer together but I think it works! She looks quite "spirited" in her dance. :-)

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  7. Gorgeous dresses...thanks for sharing! Love your fun day of the dead artwork!

    Hugs Giggles

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  8. Yes very south western image.Would be fun to see those dresses in use!

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  9. I love the inspiration behind the artwork. The photos of those lovely costumes with their color and texture are very inspiring.

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  10. I like your "thin" dancing lady! I also love the pictures you took of the costumes. What amazing colors. Wow!

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  11. Very cool drawing, love her movement!

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  12. Lovely piece and gorgeous costumes, thanks for sharing Indira! I just saw the new James Bond movie and it involves Day of the Dead festivities.

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