Happy Dia de Los Muertos!

Today is the Dia de los Muertos, when the gates of Heaven open and the spirits of the dead visit their loved ones on earth. 

Celebrated in many regions around the world, the elaborate celebrations in Mexico are the most well known, and most spectacular. Families weed and plant; paint and repair the cemetery plots where they will gather this night to celebrate. Offering mass, songs, stories, food and drink - this is a festive celebration honoring and remembering the departed. Not spooky of morbid in any way, it aims to acknowledge death as a part of life, and encourage one to live life to the fullest  - as death will come. 

Decorations abound with marigolds/cempasúchil or flower of the dead.

Families create ofrendas (offering tables/altars) at home that welcome the spirits with food and libations. Mementos and pictures, marigolds, candles... The four elements are represented: fire/candles, water/beverages & alcohol, earth/fruits & vegetables air/papel picado flags.

Day of the Dead ofrenda altar from Old Town San Diego. Pix by JDR

Sugar skulls are an iconic Day of the Dead image. Made of sugar, chocolate... you name it - they are meant to represent a departed soul. They are also exchanged amongst the living in the context that "our friendship/love will be stronger than and survive beyond death".

sugar, chocolate, icing! Oh my...

Day of the Dead has become increasingly present in popular culture here in the states the last few years. Shown below are highlights from my collection - including the bride and groom we had on our cake table at out wedding. Love that will last beyond death... While many of my pieces come from Austin TX and Albuquerque NM where I have family, I found some great stuff at Target this year...

Calacas and calaveras

The Day of theDead theme inspires me greatly - as you may have guessed by now. This year after my annual batch of polymer skull pendants I have been working on sugar skull tiles! I am glazing them as we speak...

Jenny's polymer pendant skulls and new ceramic tiles. 

Lesley found some fabulous sugar skulls in jewelry and clay from fellow artists near and far:

Maku Raku

Staci - Louise Originals

Joan Miller Porcelain
The Jewellery Girls Place

Javier Martinez

Graves Co.

So today, wherever you are, remember your loved ones that are no longer with you. According to Mexican legend, there are three types of death: The first occurs when all bodily functions cease and the soul leaves the body; the second occurs when the body is interred, returning one’s physical shell to the earth; and the final, most definitive death, occurs when no one remembers you. Raise a glass, tell a tale, remember them fondly... and know they are with you. 

Previous posts: 

Linda's Day of the Dead in Oaxaca

Jenny's Sugar Skull tutorial

For more info:: Dia de Los Muertos article

Evolution of the Sugar skull

Happy Halloween! Feliz Dia de los Muertos! 

Dia de los Muertos ofrenda table, San Diego. Photo by J. Davies-Reazor

last years skulls

In honor of the holiday - I wanted to share with you the evolution of my polymer Dia of the Dead sugar skulls. Last year, I shared a tutorial - how I do what I do...


I make a batch every October, for friends, and fall shows. I'll work on them over a few days: sculpt, cure, paint, cure, bead...  This year I was teaching a Sugar Skull workshop as well. I was faced with the challenge of streamlining my process down to an hour and a half. I wanted the students to leave wearing their cured/finished pendant. So how to color and embellish the raw clay and do one simple cure at the end of class? My skulls are usually multiple layers of oils and acrylics, Gilders paste, sealed for durability... Hmm.

And I like to add variety to each batch. New tools, new techniques...

This year's new tool set: leather stamps. I found these on Amazon, pretty cheap, and since I won't be hammering them into leather repeatedly, thought they would do nicely. They are perfect! I love the striped crescent moon shapes especially. 

Naked skulls - a combination of small decorative rubber stamps and the leather stamps. Flower eyes! Heavens! Its too good! I am in love.

Now I mentioned that whole pesky workshop time constraint. Well - the colorant I like to use on raw clay is Mica powder. I have a few colors, they are easy to apply, and cure into the clay. They would be perfect for a single cure piece as color, and decoration.

Brushed on they are a total scary what-have-i-done? mess. 

With the surplus gently blown away, they are less scary, but still smeared and a bit all over the place. The trick to clean up? Clear tape. ( Sorry there isn't a video tut of this. If I could figure out how to hold the camera with my chin... ) Simply use the sticky side, gently pressed on surface, to remove excess powder. Powder remains in the impressed areas. Viola! 

These four are cleaned up and ready for the toaster oven. Wire loops are in the foreheads for jump ring/beading later. Czech glass flowers are applied with a head pin. (Bent at end to prevent it from pulling out. ) There are a few areas I will clean up with a little wet sanding... 

And here is the motley crew waiting to be whisked off to FaerieCon next weekend! 

The class, you ask? Fabulous! See what my students made: 

Student work left and center. ( Mine on right) They got theirs done! 

No tricks. All treats! Enjoy! 

Jenny