LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S FIREPLACE MANTLE CURIOSITY ALTAR. DO YOU HAVE ONE, TOO?

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's fireplace mantle "altar or curiosities."

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's fireplace mantle "altar or curiosities." It is not really an altar in any intentional form. It is certainly not symmetrical, as are most of my altars. Some of the objects are collected from Mexico. Others are handmade by my husband, Tom Mathies. It is an odd assortment of oddities.

What do you have on your mantlepiece? I would love to see your displays. Share your photos with me, perhaps. Email them to me at: lauriebethzuckerman@gmail.com

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY OF ANIMAL CAROUSELS FROM OAXACA, MEXICO

Carousel in Ciudad de Oaxaca, Mexico during El Día de los Muertos

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Carousel in Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico during El Día de los Muertos

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Carousels decorate the plaza for the Guadalupe Festival in Ciudad de Oaxaca, Mexico

Mexico is always abundant with rich color, and these carousel animal photos taken in the Oaxaca region during several trips are wonderfully garish and madly humorous. Carousels are used to celebrate El Día de los Muertos and the Virgen de Guadalupe festivals.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOS OF CIUDAD DE OAXACA'S BUILDINGS

Ciudad de Oaxaca, Mexico

Ciudad de Oaxaca, Mexico

Ciudad de Oaxaca, Mexico

Ciudad de Oaxaca, Mexico

Ciudad de Oaxaca, Mexico

I have been taking pictures of building doorways and windows since my first travels south of the border in the early 1980s, but these particular photos from Ciudad de Oaxaca's historic district are my most favorite pictures of all. These aged combinations of paint, plaster, wood, and wrought iron are a painter's dream palette and a photographer's bonanza! Oaxaca is a World Heritage site in the southernmost state of Mexico.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S PHOTOS OF LA VIRGEN DE LA SOLEDAD STATUES IN OAXACA

La Virgen de la Soledad is one of the most popular saints
sold in Oaxaca's religious stores near the Bascilica.
Made of clay and plaster, they are often seen on graves in
Oaxaca's municipal cemetery, the San Miguel Panteon.
This statue is still in excellent condition.

A plaster weather-worn Virgen stands disintegrating
inside a locked wrought iron grave nicho.

A clay Virgen losing its paint around its face.

A portable Virgen de la Soledad stands in the courtyard of the

Basilica de la Soledad. This patron saint of Oaxaca is

venerated every year on December 18.  After prayers, gifts of flowers, 

lighting of candles, and the ritual touching of her robes,

the Virgen is paraded back into the church.

In honor of my previous Sunday's post, I am sharing more images of La Virgen de la Soledad—the patron saint of Oaxaca, Mexico. She has her own church, the Basilica de la Soledad in Oaxaca City, which is considered the most important religious site in the entire state. La Virgen is my most favorite of the Mexican virgins. I love her stylized triangular shape. And her robes are black, gold, and silver, colors I adore. La Virgen de la Soledad is one of the most popular saints sold in Oaxaca's religious stores surrounding the Bascilica. Made of clay and plaster, they are frequently seen on graves in Oaxaca's municipal cemetery, the San Miguel Panteon. Above are three Virgens in various states of disintegration. Click on each of my photos to see the details in a larger format. To see my photos of this famous Virgen click on my earlier post.

Architecturally, the Basilica is known for its 79 ft high Baroque facade and its heavily gilded interior. It was built between 1682 and 1690 to house the holy image of the Virgin of Solitude (Soledad). The main statue stands inside the church, decorated with 600 diamonds and topped with a 4 lb gold crown. Her vestments are encrusted with pearls. In the 1980s, robbers removed her jewel-studded crown. She now has a replica of the original and stands in a glass-covered shrine. Many locals come to pray before the image, as she is believed to have the power to heal and work miracles. A major festival on December 18 honors the Virgin, attracting the faithful from all over Oaxaca. The last photo above shows the religious store directly across the street from the Basilica with many Virgins on display in the window. 

For more information about this sacred site: Basilica de la Soledad, Oaxaca, Mexico.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN PHOTOS OF JOSEFINA AGUILAR CERAMIC STUDIO IN OCATLAN, OAXACA

La Virgen de la Soledad home altar at the studio of Josefina Aguilar
in Ocotlan, Oaxaca pictured in the three photos below

This was my second trip to visit the Aguilar ceramic studio, and the second time I have photographed one of their beautiful home altars. Below are images of the Aquilar's ofrendas that I documented the year before.

Día de los Muertos Ofrenda. I love all of the baby Jesuses dressed in their knit caps.

A cross made of rose petals lies on the floor
creating a path to the Aguilar's ofrenda pictured above

At another Aguilar family studio in Ocotlan, this life-sized 
Día de los Muertos Ofrenda is more like a theatrical stage set

Photo of an altar to the Santo Nino
in the Ocotlan Church, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Josefina Aguilar and her family are world-renowned ceramicists from Ocotlan in the State of Oaxaca. Their figurines are in the collection of every important collector of Mexican folk art. I was lucky to visit their studio on two different trips to Oaxaca. What is most memorable to me are the beautiful home altars set up in the courtyard where the family all work on their individual creations. The Santo Nino altar with the miniature marigolds is the most beautiful altar I have ever photographed in Colonial Mexico.

This is my June 24 offering to Rebecca Brooks for her Sundays of sharing Postcards from Paradise. Please stop by and visit all of the wonderful posts by Rebecca's talented friends and followers.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN CEMETERY PHOTO COMPOSITES OF MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST

Photos by Laurie Beth Zuckerman

Cemetery images are my thing, when it comes to photography. (And altars, churches, roadside shrines, etc.) I have been taking photos in graveyards since I graduated from college. Originally I ventured into the two pioneer graveyards in Eugene, Oregon to study the wild and cultivated flowers, and then later on to paint watercolors while I was in graduate school at the university. I got hooked immediately and have been visiting cemeteries everywhere I have traveled since, accumulating hundreds of photos which I regularly browse through for inspiration. Few of my images actually make it into frames, except when I am having an exhibit of my artwork, as these photos go so well with my home altars and installations. More of them make their way into Powerpoint lectures I give at museums, libraries, or universities, especially for Día de los Muertos. The best photos will eventually make their way into self-published books that I have been working on for the past several years. There are so many that I cherish.

The first photo above is a digital composite using a grave from New Mexico and "inserting" an image of a Madonna from Colonial Mexico to appear behind the glass of this shallow nicho. The second image uses the same grave "window" and displays an image I photographed in an old roadside chapel nearby in Northern New Mexico. I love this image because of the bird especially. It is from an image on a processional banner that I have never seen elsewhere. I assume this is the boy Jesus. A Mexican tile picture of the Santo Nino de Atocha is mounted on the outside of the chapel. The photos below show this chapel in La Manga. I felt so lucky to photograph this church altar and study all of the popular Catholic images and statues honored in this chapel.

Please visit my dear friend, Rebecca Brooks at Recuerda Mi Corazon for her weekly "Postcards from Paradise" postings by artists from around the world.

Processional banner in La Manga Chapel

Processional banner sits at the altar of the chapel

A view of the whole tiny chapel

La Manga Chapel, Northern New Mexico

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S PHOTOS OF SOUTHWEST CEMETERY CHERUBS WITH WINGS

Durango, Colorado Cemetery grave cherub

Laurie Beth Zuckerman shares some of her favorite cherub photographs from Hispanic cemeteries around the Southwest. The image is an infant's head with upturned angel wings. A popular Catholic image, the term cherub was also mentioned multiple times in the Hebrew Bible. These cherubs are made of metal or plaster casts that are applied to the gravestone and then heavily painted, and even repainted. I have found this image in Texas, Arizona, and Southern Colorado. I don't seem to have any of them from New Mexico, strangely.

Recuerda Mi Corazon is the blog to visit to share in all of these "Postcards from Paradise."

Alpine, Texas cemetery grave cherub

Alamosa, Colorado cemetery cherub

Alamosa, Colorado cemetery cherub

Nogales, Arizona cemetery grave angel.
The letters  GR stand for "Gracias reciber" in Spanish
or in English "Thanks-receiving."

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S XERISCAPE GARDEN SHRINE WITH CAST IRON GERMAN CRUCIFIX

Laurie Zuckerman's shrine to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a riot of color
in the springtime thanks to my husband's diligent xeriscaping.

The path to Laurie's garage studio winds past this antique German crucifix,
my most precious backyard possession and largest crucifix I have collected.

Exuberant Scarlet Gilia framing the view of my cross from my patio chair.

Rusted cast iron cross with crucifix

Cast iron cross with crucifix detail

The garage studio's side is lined with wooden crosses rescued from graveyard trash heaps.

Shadows are cast from the trellis made with wood rescued from an old dairy farm.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's back garden is as much a sanctuary as her home full of altars. Over the past eleven years, my husband and I have collected a few simple pieces to grace our xeriscape garden. Prior to our efforts, the yard had been a lawn since the house was built in 1933. Tom has transformed the entire yard into a botanical desert wonderland. I spend a lot of time admiring and photographing the ebb and flow of our xeric plants. I hope you enjoy this peek into my private life and my reverence for Catholic statuary.

You may also enjoy my earlier blog post of Madonna Shrines in my backyard.

Please visit this post and many others at Postcards from Paradise with my dear friend, Rebecca Brooks' site: Recuerda Mi Corazon.