Category: culture

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art community craft culture Decoration event Mexico paper cut Party Vancouver

Dia de los Muertos party

DIY Day of the Dead decorations, skulls, calavera, photo booth
Luis rocking the calavera and Adeline with her newly-crafted headdress

I love an opportunity to decorate for a party, and even more so if I get the chance to make the decorations myself! The last few years we have hosted a Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) party, inspired by the Mexican holiday and the annual festival in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

So many faux candles and sparkles to use! I love this holiday

For this year’s party I used some foam core on which I hand-painted bright calavera (skull) motifs. I created a skull and lace backdrop with twinkly lights and garlands with faux marigolds and lace ribbon, with plenty of hot glue. I painted and collaged a large polystyrene skull and a vintage sombrero that Chris bought from a work auction, which were fun decorative items and photo props. Papel picado was the inspiration for some cut paper-style foam core signs.

Gabriela with over-sized ‘papel picado’-style signage!
More calacas

We also set aside a maker space and I led a craft session for my friends teaching them how to make calavera headdresses to wear, which was so fun even for the craft-reluctant!

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art craft culture Decoration event fashion Mexico Vancouver

Calavera headdresses

This season I have been busy making scores of headdresses for Dia de los Muertos, and led a craft session to teach my friends how to make them too – such fun!

I used sturdy headbands, (either wide plastic or thin metal work well) and with hot glue, added a felt strip as a base to add the decoration. I provided a lovely selection of faux flowers and foliage, plastic and polystyrene skulls and rhinestones, and we dived in, cutting up some dollar store lace tablecloths as mantillas.

Top hat with a brim of lace, ribbon, netting, faux floral and bejewelled skeletons

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architecture art community culture gallery Los Angeles museum

Views from the Getty

Getty Center Central Garden
This summer I was selected as a Gallery docent at the Getty Center in Los Angeles! It has been such a great experience going through training, meeting such wonderful people and getting to know the art work in more depth. ‘Docent’ is not a word we really use in the UK, but the role is similar to the one I held at Tate Gallery Liverpool whilst at university, as a ‘freelance artist’, facilitating workshops with visitors using close study, discussion and practical activities such as drawing.

It really is a great privilege to spend time each week up at the centre, The Meier-designed complex sometimes feels like some sort of utopian spaceship filled with treasures. I spend hours in the galleries with the works and exploring the campus discovering my favourite areas to sip coffee and study or gaze outwards at the cityscape below.

Next month we will start teaching school groups, encouraging them to look closely and engage with art, and have a positive experience of one of my favourite places in LA. I can’t wait!