Mexico is feeling poorly.....

Muna town square

http://www.theyucatantimes.com/      After reading today's Yucatan Times I don't think we will be planning a trip to Mexico in the near future. The chief of the tourist police was ambushed and killed yesterday in Playa del Carmen. It was gang and drug related of course. The town of Muna, which we visited last winter, is reported to be a hotbed for drug and gang violence. Gang members were deported from California where they had been living illegally. Upon return one was murdered in broad daylight in the town square of Muna. The article states that violence has taken over that small town. In Acapulco, teachers are refusing to go back to school because the cartels are demanding half of their wages as protection money. In Nuevo Leon, not far from the terrible casino ambush that killed 62 last month, citizens are being trained by police in the use of firearms. Over 1400 people have been killed there in drug related deaths this year. There are also many cases of children and relatives being kidnapped and ransomed. The newspaper also has articles about the terrible contamination in the cenotes of the Yucatan. I wonder how many tourists come home with bugs from swimming in them? A red tide in the Gulf of Mexico has also left the beaches covered in dead marine life. This is the last year of the Mayan calendar and it seems like Mexico is feeling poorly. I hope they get it together soon....cause that is just too scary.....

modern Mexican pottery.....

This pot looks like it was thrown in sections on the pottery wheel  and  then assembled. You don't see wheel thrown work very often. Notice the difference in profile from the hand built pots.

The potters wheel was never used in Mexico The wheel was an invention that came from Asia and is still not part of the Mexican pottery tradition. They hand build the original pot using a shaped, rounded sling to start the pot off. That is why the bottoms of their pots are rounded and often displayed with a pot ring to help support it. A mold would be made of the original, and then many reproductions would be made from that. Often the pots would be burnished for shine and decorated with colored slips. A wood fired kiln would leave flashes on the pots from the trail of the flame. Low fired, because of the difficulty of getting a really hot firing from wood, they are fragile and easily broken. There are many master potters in Mexico and their art is an inspiration to us all....

art in the landscape.....

My favorite art is what I see in the landscape rather than in a gallery.......We saw lots in Mexico....