Dia de los Muertos

I completed the project I was working on yesterday.  This is the "something different" I mentioned in my last post.  I have done paintings of this subject before but not the actual object.  What is it?  It is a Day of the Dead Skull...not a real skull but a Styrofoam skull.  I saw it at Michales and just had to buy it and paint it.  I will be showing it at the SAAG Gallery in October.

 If you are not familiar with Dia de los Muertos here is an explanation:  It is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures.  The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.  It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it is a national holiday, and all the banks are closed.  The celebration takes place on November 1 and 2, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars and honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.  

They have a big celebration every year here in Tucson with a parade.  People dress in costumes and paint their faces like skulls.  Google Day of the Dead art images to see how the holiday is depicted in folk art paintings.  A few years ago I decided to attempt my first day of the dead painting and entered it in a local contest and won honorable mention.  I am posting photos of several of these paintings along with the skull I just completed.

Front View

Side View

Back View

15 X15 Day of the Dead painting
that I will be showing at the
SAAG Gallery in October

This is the painting I won honorable mention on a few years ago.  It is sold.

"Carpe Diem"
A painting I did for a grandson at his request.  Each object in the painting has a meaning.

"Vanitas"
A painting I did last year and sold in January this year at the De Grazia Show.
If you scroll back and go through older posts you will find the story about these paintings.