The Painter Painting

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere.  It is a popular holiday in Southern Arizona where I live.  The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember loved ones who have died, and support their spiritual journey. I have created several pieces to commemorate a variety of people; this time I’m celebrating the life of an artist/painter. The heavy-weight paper used to make his skeleton has a pearlescent finish; after cutting it out I dressed it with cut-out slacks, an origami shirt of my own design, and an artist’s apron to hold some of his paints. His brushes were fashioned with rolled paper and some bristles from my own paint brushes. I added a ‘shadow’ behind the figure to create more distinction from the background. Finishing touches include his paint palette, a beret, more paint tubes, and his color wheel (which is only 1.25” in diameter!) The piece is protected in a thin black plastic frame with glass, and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.