Artwork
¡Hola! When I’m not writing, you’ll often find me out and about with my iPhone, taking pictures. Over time, I’ll be posting more of my favorite shots with notes on how they came about.
But wait! Before we dig in – There’s news! My photography was featured in the September 2022 issue of Reinventing Home, an online magazine that’s been called “the thinking person’s guide to home”. This beautiful publication was founded, curated and edited by author Valerie Andrews, and I’m delighted she invited me to submit an illustrated essay. You can find it here in English and here in Spanish.
If I can answer any questions, or you’d like to purchase a print, drop me a line on the contact page. Thanks, Sooz
PS If you’re on Instagram you can follow me @connectingdotz. I’ll be uploading more of my work there soon.
For someone exploring life visually, Mexico is a feast.
I constantly feel like a kid in a candy store, and the actual candy store (to the left) is just incredible.
Sweets of all sizes and shapes are to be had, many with a spicy chili coating.
See what I mean?
Color, color, color!
As i was walking near Parque Juarez in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the rhythmic stomping got my attention. I quickly made my way to the stage.
The dancers entranced.
A talented embroiderer shared samples of his work. He wants to be a surgeon, but cannot pay for medical school. Look at his handiwork!! (call me if you want to help him make his dream come true)
This bench is a favorite place to sit.
It’s sooooo quiet. A singular idea lightbulb hangs above.
(I’m not telling where it is… but if you visit we can have a tete a tete there).
Quintessential Mexico:
colorful flags
on a gusty day,
minutes before
a dramatic storm.
The days on which Guadalupe is celebrated in Mexico involve the creation of seemingly endless alters and lifelike figures. This one in particular moved me. ———->
Just wow.
This Starfish Cactus blossom stole my gaze.
Not really a cactus at all, the plant is best known not for its flower, but for its unpleasant odor which attracts insects to pollinate the blooms.
Hypnotic, isn’t it? I half expect it to start slowly spinning…
Same palette as the flower above, only this time on a wall. Brick red, golden yellow, vivid green, and an insects’ dormitory.
The openings to the hive looks like baby birds waiting to be fed…
Hibiscus water, with fixins’ or not, is a glorious beverage on a hot day. One doesn’t usually see drinks from this angle ; I thought I’d give it a shot, so to speak.
Me encanta; this image enchants me.
(I wonder if en-canta means to “sing into me”?) These swoops and swirls capture so much of life here –– the vibrant movement mixes with shadows of omnipresent telephone wires.
OMG these beans in their pods! I am positively swooning!
Confession: I’m a pod, nuts, and seed person. I adore the curves of these shapes and the vibrant red of the beans. I’ve collected a bowlful of these bright seeds from the ground, harvesting at a tree in town where growth is plentiful. (These may be Erythrina herbacea, commonly known as coral beans. If so the young leaves on the plant are edible, when cooked. These seeds are not edible. Apparently they make wonderful beads, and were used by the Aztecs in telling the future. In small amounts the seeds are said to be hallucinogenic, and it is said they are sometimes used as a rat poison.)
The pods resemble seaweed bulbs, do they not?
FIREWORKS!!! and more fireworks!
So many, so often, so celebratory! For saints, for holidays, for birthdays … I found this particular night to be magical, and painterly.
Here’s another view of lightworks … entirely different. I often zoom in to create an impressionistic look; to me, this shot really captured the both the excitement and the moodiness of the evening. There is something poignant in seeing just one sparkle against the full sky.
I am in a dream and the dream is real. Much like the fireworks above, sometimes the feeling of the moment is best caught in a haze.
This glow! The buildings!
Here’s a taste of the light in San Miguel.
On late afternoons everything warms up, and on a clear day the scenery pops. It’s like waking up to find yourself in a Renaissance tapestry of rich hues and textures.
So this woman walks into a bar… and takes a photograph.
Mexican culture is so decorative, from endless bows and glitter to painted borders and sculptural detail. I find beauty absolutely everywhere… and those cheeks!
Enjoying coffee on a public patio I suddenly heard a whooshing sound and turned to see a local healer doing his thing.
Click!
See the hands on her head right in the middle of the shot?
Stonework is meticulous handiwork. I love this look!
The wall looks stitched together.
The work of ceramicist Gustavo Perez makes clay come alive.
It’s as if the vase has gills, and is silently breathing. Incredible!
You can find a collection of this artist’s work at Galleria Atotonilco, just outside of San Miguel. Don’t miss it!
This is the kind of house front decor that stops you in your tracks. Or at least it did me.
Wall decay often appears to me as a map or an abstract message.
This wall is different. See the barking dog?
Early in the morning many people are out sweeping and cleaning the cobblestones in front of their home or shop.
I intended to catch his shadow in the doorway, but had no idea how much I would appreciate the wrinkles in his clothing.
Below: Finding faces in unexpected places has become a pastime , and then come some abstracts, and murals. I’ll organize these better over time.
Ahhh, yes. Instagram. If you enjoy IG then by all means let’s keep up with each other there. Link below this IG gallery.
