LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S EXPERIMENTS WITH ENCAUSTIC PAINTING IN DC KELLY'S WORKSHOP

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Encaustic of Western Meadowlark #3;
works better when the background is painted first

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Encaustic of Painted Redstart #2;
lots of layers of paper and silver leaf

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Encaustic of Painted Bunting #1;

would not use found metal objects and coins again

Laurie Beth Zuckerman joined DC Kelly's encaustic painting workshop hosted by the Studio 12 Gallery in Denver. What a great group of talented artists from the Denver and Fort Collins area! And what an exciting medium to experiment with. To keep it simple I decided to practice by painting a few birds just to see how detailed I could get with the hot wax paint. The control of the brushstrokes is much more difficult than with oil paint. Scratching back into the surface of the wax with dental tools and pencils was the most satisfying technique, along with adding layers of encaustic with bits of paper, silver leaf, and foil. Thank you DC Kelly and Sean and Stacey Brown for hosting this workshop yesterday!

The Studio 12 Gallery is currently hosting their Third Annual Day of the Dead exhibit and my new "Madre Dolorosa" altar is still on display through November 6th. Next opening is First Friday, November 4th. I'll be there with the other artists in this wonderful and diverse show.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN CREATES DAY OF THE DEAD ALTAR FOR LONGMONT MUSEUM'S 11TH ANNUAL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBITION

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's  DOD altar at the Longmont Museum after Day 1 of installation

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's DOD altar at the Longmont Museum after Day 2 of installation

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's DOD altar at the Longmont Museum after Day 3 of installation

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's DOD altar at the Longmont Museum after Day 4 of finishing her "Homage to Old Mexico" Day of the Dead installation

Laurie Beth Zuckerman began her stint as Altarmaker-in-Residence at the Longmont Museum's Día de los Muertos Exhibition on October 1. This gorgeous show of Day of the Dead altars and folk art will continue from October 1- November 6. 

Monday, September 26, I trucked ALL the stuff to the museum and got the furniture arranged during the afternoon and took the DAY 1 shot shown above. There were still hundreds of items to go on this "Homage to Old Mexico" installation, honoring Mexico's vintage popular arts. The museum had its opening reception on September 30, so I wanted to have enough of the altar's structure to give a sense of what was to come. People actually thought the altar was finished, but you can see from my subsequent photos that I was far, far, far from being done.

Saturday, October 1, I posted my DAY 2 shot of what I accomplished on my first full day of altarmaking for the public. 

Sunday, October 2, I returned to the Longmont Museum and later posted my DAY 3 shot.

Finally on Friday, October 7, I returned yet again to complete this 14.5' x 10' x 8' installation and am posting my final DAY 4 photo. Hope you enjoyed following this transition of my newest Día de los Muertos altar.

Please join me on the evening of October 12 at the Longmont Museum for my public gallery talk at 7 pm. Admission is $5 for non-members of the museum.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S "HOMAGE TO OLD MEXICO" ALTAR AT LONGMONT MUSEUM'S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBITION APPEARS ON MEXICAN CONSULTATE GENERAL'S WEBPAGE

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Day of the Dead altar installation at the Longmont Museum appears on the Mexican Consultate General's website: http://portal.sre.gob.mx/Denver/

This is a photo of my incomplete altar from the grand opening reception on September 30 that featured the Cónsul General, Andrés Chao along with the mayor of Longmont, Brian Baum. I finished my installation, "Homage to Old Mexico," on October 7, 2011, and my public lecture is tonight, October 12 at 7 pm.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S TALK ON ALTAR "HOMAGE TO OLD MEXICO" AT LONGMONT MUSEUM'S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBITION OCTOBER 12, 2011 7-8 PM

Photo of Laurie Beth Zuckerman, Altarmaker-in-Residence, appears in Longmont Times Call article about Longmont Museum and Cultural Center's Día de los Muertos Exhibition. I will be speaking to the public Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 7 pm. For more details, click on the article pictured above.

Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, Colorado

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN TO BE ALTARMAKER-IN-RESIDENCE FOR LONGMONT MUSEUM'S DAY OF THE DEAD CELEBRATION IN COLORADO

Laurie Beth Zuckerman in front of her "Piesafe Altar"

As the Altarmaker-in Residence, Laurie Beth Zuckerman will be creating a new Day of the Dead altar installation for the Longmont Museum's 11th annual celebration and exhibit of Diá de los Muertos altars and folk art. Hope you can make it to the museum to watch me construct my altar the first week of October, or listen to my talk about my "Homage to Old Mexico" ofrenda and how Mexican culture have influenced my work. Longmont's website, reprinted below, has the all the details and dates for my residency and gallery talk at the museum. Click to enlarge each reprint.

www.ci.longmont.co.us/museum/exhibits/dod.htm

www.ci.longmont.co.us/museum/education/day_of_dead.htm#programs

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN PHOTOGRAPHS OLD LAPEYROUSE CEMETERY IN TRINIDAD

Laurie Beth Zuckerman photographed the historic Lapeyrouse Cemetery in Trinidad's capital city of Port of Spain this May. Lapeyrouse is one of the most corroded cemeteries I have ever visited. It has huge architectural monuments and streets, much like the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. Transients seek shelter in cardboard boxes inside dilapidated tombs, while drug dealers with Bluetooths in their ears scurry around on bikes, arranging their deals. Only the occasional car enters the high-walled graveyard to traverse its acres of inner streets, likely looking for loved ones. I felt scared and cautious at every turn, even with my husband close by. Finally my mounting fear and the debilitating heat of the tropical afternoon sun drove me away before I could complete my photography documentation. I needed days there, not hours. 

Below are my photos from the older section of Lapeyrouse Cemetery showing the diverse architectural styles of its once grand monuments. The first one is a monument styled after Port of Spain's characteristic Gingerbread Houses.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN PHOTOGRAPHS JESUS CRUCIFIXES IN SANTA ROSA CEMETERY, ARIMA, TRINIDAD, BWI

Below I have added wide shot photos of Arima's old Catholic cemetery surrounded by bits of urban jungle and small colorful buildings. The stark black and white of the cemetery monuments against the verdant colors of the foliage and the Caribbean colors of the houses conveys a mood I feel is unique to Trinidad's graveyards.

Laurie Zuckerman traveled to Trinidad in the British West Indies in May. These crucifixes were photographed in the Arima Cemetery in Trinidad on a gray, rainy day. Arima sits at the base of the Northern Range of coastal rain forest. This cemetery had a moldering quality that I have tried to capture with closeup digital photography. These encrusted crucifixes have been repainted and peeled over the years in this hot, decaying climate.

Arima is the third largest city in Trinidad. It is also home to the largest population of Amerindians in the country and in most of the Caribbean. Christopher Columbus "discovered" Trinidad. These Amerindians are the descendants of the indigenous peoples of Trinidad at the time that Columbus arrived and the Spanish came to rule the country for the next couple of hundred years. The remarkable thing about these images is that they look just like images I have taken in the Hispanic Southwest. The crucifixes are the same style and the way they are mounted to the crosses is also similar. Note that some of the crosses sit within nichos in the crosses. A world away, a different culture from the Southwest entirely, as most people in this cemetery were either Black, East Indian, or Amerindian. Catholic symbols, such as the cross look pretty much the same anywhere, although the style and color of the grave monuments and overall cemetery layout is extremely unique to Trinidad.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN PHOTOGRAPHS HEART ICON IN ARIMA CEMETERY, TRINIDAD

Icon heART. Laurie Zuckerman photographed this Sacred Heart in the old Catholic cemetery in Arima, Trinidad, British West Indies. IconARTe is the name of my art business. The word ART is also an intergral part of HEART. The ART of the HEART is always fascinating for me to photograph, but I don't find them that often in the Catholic cemeteries I haunt. This simple heart decorating a plain white cross has grown more iconic over the years. Weathering, patina, and lack of color add to the poignancy of this classic symbol.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN PHOTOGRAPHS MADONNA AT PAX GUEST HOUSE IN TRINIDAD

Laurie Zuckerman traveled to Trinidad in the West Indies during the month of May. These photos of the Madonna statue in the "secret garden" at the PAX Guest House in the Northern Range are my favorite ones for color and spirituality. My room looked down at this mysterious walled garden. Glass bottle shards "adorn" the cement walls, to keep out intruders and devotees.

Our Lady of Fatima graces the Mount Saint Benedict Church above the PAX Guest House. This lifesize statue is surrounded by live tropical plants and flowers.

Here is the view of PAX from the Mount Saint Benedict Monastery. What a wonderful place to stay in Trinidad. Far from the madding crowd. Cooler, breezier, plenty of lusciously colored birds. Just down the hill from PAX is this Catholic Seminary below.

Watch for more postings of spiritual photos of churches and cemeteries in Trinidad in the coming month.