Fantastic images for a fantastic setting

Danae Brissonnet, artist on scaffolding far left

Fanciful creatures from the ocean swarm a human figure holding a conch shell to an ear; listening to what the ocean says.  

Canadian artist, Danae Brissonnet’s very colourful mural adorns one of the new white walls of the expanded Aguakan waste water treatment plant on the eastern side of Isla Mujeres. 

Day one - Danae Brissonnet 

When I first stopped to chat I mistook her slight accent for Spanish and proceeded to torture her with my very limited Spanglish.  

Eventually we both realized that we had English in common, and communicating became a whole lot simpler.  

Danae Brissonnet - egg carton palette 

For a painters’ palette holding multiple dabs of vibrant colours Danae had creatively re-cycled a cardboard egg carton, designed to hold thirty chicken eggs.  Enamoured by the simplicity, she is hoping to find more discarded egg cartons.

A few feet away fellow artist, Hilda Palafax from Mexico City created a woman who languidly swims in the ocean with a huge critter – a Whale Shark.  Painting in the early morning light, and again late in the afternoon when the heat of the day had abated somewhat, Hilda (Poni) crafted an image that is both humorous and beautiful.  An illustrator and graphic designer by trade, Hilda is close to becoming a full-time artist.  It is her true passion. 

Hilda Palafax - painting woman and Whale Shark

Another truly fanciful mural has been painted on northern side of the municipal waste transfer facility.  The creatures are fun and colourful, and brighten up an otherwise dreary space.  

The close proximity of the three murals will attract a lot of attention from the thousands of Cancun daytrippers who buzz around the island via an assortment of golf carts. With the turquoise water and a long white beach directly behind the artists, the soft breezes and gentle waves have to be an inspiration.  An assortment of long-sleeved shirts, comical hats, and scarves protect skin unaccustomed to the blistering sun. 

Hilda Palafax, Poni - almost finished her mural

There are four visiting artists taking part in the Pangeaseed Sea Walls project happening this month on Isla Mujeres.  Unfortunately we never did connect with the other two artists - Tysa and Senkoe who painted the mural on the waste transfer building, and the new mural on the tourist information building.  Some of you may remember the fourteen spectacular murals from the original Pangeaseed project in 2014.  

Many are still intact, adorning numerous buildings in centro: the Mercado, several hotels, a kindergarten and our favourite mural, the huge one decorating the Palacio Municipal (City Hall).  The mural on the tourist information centre on Medina suffered sun damage and is being repainted this week with a different collage of ocean-themed images.

Tysa - mural at the municipal waste transfer facility

The original plan included decorating the bland exterior of the Casa de Cultura in centro, but when Danae Brissonnet examined the wall, she realized the surface was much too rough for her painting.  Too bad for the Casa de Cultura, but very fortunate for the Aguakan facility. 

How did this all come about?  Well, as we understand it, Pangeaseed is the parent organization promoting the idea in various locations around the world.  The local feet-on-the-street coordinators, such as Carolina Marin, are associated with an organization called Visual Junkies.  These are the folks who organize local sponsors, which walls can be painted, and accommodations. 

Caroline Marin, Visual Junkies and artist Hilda Palafax

Islander Eric Shott, of El Milagaro Marina and his very talented staff assisted in 2014 with accommodations for the artists, assembling scaffolding and carting heavy items with their marina company truck.  And again in 2016 Eric provided accommodations for the artists.

Rooster’s Café and the sister restaurant of Bertha’s has helped out with breakfasts, delicious coffee, and a wind up evening meal.  The municipality of Isla Mujeres arranged the walls to be painted, and meals at Pelayos Restaurante on Medina Rueda.  Made in nearby Merida, Maya Solar supplied bio degradable sunscreen and insect repellent suitable for use when the group members ventured out to swim with the Whale Sharks and rays.  OSEL paints have supplied materials for the artists.  

Danae Brissonnet - the hat just made me laugh!

These are just a few of the sponsors that we heard about, if there are more we would be happy to include them in this article.  The joys of electronic publications!

Whether you are on Isla Mujeres right now, or are coming soon for your annual vacation, a tour of the island in search of the multiple murals – new and old, is well worth the time.

Hasta Pronto!

Lynda & Lawrie

Also see our other article about the 2014 project:

http://lynda-notesfromparadise.blogspot.mx/2014/08/isla-explodes-with-creativity-and-colour.html

Isla explodes with creativity and colour!

Artist: Saner, on Palacio Municipal      Photo L.Lock

In an explosion of colour and mythical creatures the Sea Walls – Murals for Oceans project blasted its way onto Isla Mujeres. 

Fifteen artists from USA, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Spain arrived on Isla in mid-July for the start of a nine day urban art festival. 

The event would eventually see the creation of a multitude of eye-popping murals decorating blank walls of various public and private buildings.

Pangeseed: protection of endangered marine life

Ruben Perez, the Director of Culture for the Municipality of Isla Mujeres was approached last February by the sponsoring organization asking for assistance for the program; assistance gaining permission to paint specific walls on public and private buildings.  In conjunction with Pangeaseed, World Art Destinations, 1XRUN, Residencia Gorila, and Juxtapoz Latin America supplied the funding to make the event happen. PangeaSeed.org is an international organization that collaborates with members of the art, science, and environmental activist communities to raise awareness of sharks and other marine species in peril.

Artists - on FB page of Sea Walls for Oceans

When I asked “why Isla Mujeres” as a location for this amazing project Liz Rashell Creative Director at World Art Destinations said the project organizers “chose Isla Mujeres, México cause Isla Mujeres serves as the nursery of the Caribbean and is on the migratory path of whale sharks, manta rays, sea turtles and large schools of fish.” That sounds to me like a great reason to celebrate with colour and beauty. 

Artist: Pelucas, on Guerrero  Photo L. Lock

As inspiration for the murals the artists were taken out to swim with the whale-sharks and manta rays, to give them an idea of how big, and how benign these gorgeous creatures are. And then the fun began! Spraying, painting, daubing in temperatures hovering around 32C the artist brought to life their fantasy creatures, depicting a wild assortment of marine life and of course our world famous whale-sharks.

We, and a number of other islanders, have spent the last two weeks trying to locate and photograph all of the murals. 

It's a bit like a scavenger hunt – as the website map is more of a suggestion where the images might be found. Driving around in centro can be a bit hazardous at the best of times because the one-way-street system is very poorly marked. Add to that rubber-necking art enthusiasts who are attempting to snap photos while driving past the working artists. It got a bit interesting at times. 

Artist: Cinzah Seekayem on Madero    Photo L. Lock

I resorted to sitting in the back of the golf cart while Lawrie drove, allowing me to take photos as we located the murals.  Finally I found the last one I was looking for painted high up on the Hotel Osorio on Madero Street. 

It's a fun painting called “The Traveler” by Cinzah Seekayem. The mural faces west on a one-way street but it see it requires twisting your neck around and up. 

To take the photo I had to park the golf cart, climb up on the front grill and balance on one foot – I have a broken toe on my right foot so I couldn't put any pressure on that foot. (The silly stuff we do to take photos for this blog!)

Artists: Local students across from school  Photo L. Lock

In amongst the official murals are a few that were done by other artists joining in the fun. The one near the middle school appears to be a collection of complimentary images painted by sixteen local students. 

It a vivid mural done in orange, pink and green depicting Mayan ancestors, whale-sharks, manta rays, and sailfish. It is one of our favourites, although truth be told we like them all!

Artist: Curiot at the entrance to Mercado  Photo L. Lock

The fifteen artists had such a good time on Isla Mujeres, they are willing to return next year with more artists to paint more murals!  Wow! If they run out of blank spaces to fill - we would happily volunteer an exterior wall of our house.

Thank you Tristan Eaton, Tatiana Suarez, Vexta, Saner, Smithe , Nosego, Curiot, Meggs, Aaron Glasson, Shark Toof, Hannah Stouffer, Pelucas, Cinzah Seekayem, Yoh Nagao, and Celeste Byers adding colour and fun to our island.

Artist: NoseGo on back of Mercado  Photo L. Lock

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

Artist: Tatiana Suarez official web photo