Holiday / Navidad 2022/23

Journal del Pacifico Fall 2022 cover by Kate TurningThank you for all the compliments we received on our Fall 2022 issue with its stunning Day of the Dead cover by Kate Turning.

In this issue, Lisa Demoney introduces us to Uli Martinez and his street art, which you can see throughout Baja California Sur including Todos Santos, La Paz, San José del Cabo.

Bryan Jáuregui of Todos Santos Eco Adventures tells us about regenerative farming in Baja California Sur.

And Ivonne Benítez of Hablando Mexicano tells us of the happiness of sharing and how you can brighten a local child’s holiday.

Todos Santos Open Studio Tour, Todos Santos, Baja, MexicoThe Artists of Todos Santos Open Studio Tour is back with over 30 participating artists! The tour weekend kicks off February 3 with a meet the artist opening reception, then two full days, February 4 and 5, in which to tour the artists’ studios. Tickets go on sale December 1.

Galería Militar has two exciting art openings coming up: December 9 through January 31, they will be featuring original paintings by Terryl Tagg. February 2 is the opening reception for Mark Gabriel’s Retro Tropical Jetset IV.

Hotel Gallo Azul has recently opened with 10 beautifully appointed rooms, four loft suites, and a large swimming pool. It is conveniently located in downtown Todos Santos, next to the Gallo Azul restaurant.

Hotels with a Heart is a new campaign raising awareness for the Padrino Children’s Foundation, which provides professional healthcare services to disadvantaged children in Todos Santos, Pescadero, and the surrounding area. See their ad this issue for a list of participating hotels.

St. Jude’s has opened a new 24-hour pharmacy on calle Degollado in Todos Santos. Besides medications they offer a large selection of medical equipment. St. Jude’s hospital offers home consultations, x-rays, ambulance and laboratory services.

Docecuarenta Casa de Café has added El Mercado at the Cañada del Diablo location. El Mercado is an upmarket mix of shops, offices, and galleries surrounding a relaxing courtyard area. It is open Tuesday through Sunday, 8 am to 9 pm.

Coming soon to Todos Santos, La Vibra Urban Condos with only eight, one-bedroom units. Pre-sales start in 2023. Contact Perla Garnica at Ricardo Amigo Real Estate for information.

Happy 15th anniversary to La Esquina Café! They are celebrating with live music December 29.

Pronto Muy Pronto in Casa Dracula across from La Esquina Café, has an eclectic mix of handmade Mexican clothing, swimwear, unique gifts, and home décor.

Mini Super Munchies in Pescadero will be holding bimonthly and weekly events such as “Meet the Artist,” little markets, guest chef pop-ups, and more. Check their Facebook and Instagram for more information.

Safe Storage Baja is now open at the south Cerritos entrance with 10 x 10 and 10 x 20 units. Their storage includes discounted airport transportation with Todos Santos Private Transportation, and 3-point security including 24-hour cameras, on-site security guard, and fully gated/walled property.

Tu Casa Concierge Property Management Service offers security, maintenance, and property management needs in the Cerritos area.

Valma Chocolate are handmade, luxury chocolates, truffles, and ganache filled tarts. You can find them in Bésame Mucho Bazaar, Pura Vida, Qué Rico Foods, and Kalma flower shop, or place a direct order.

Miguel’s Restaurant has new hours this season. They are open Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 9 pm, closed Monday.

The 10th annual Todos Santos Writers Workshop (TSWW) takes place January 28 – February 8th this year. See their ad and our events column for more information.

Artist Anne Hebebrand will be holding Cold Wax technique workshops in January and March at the Barro Sur Studio in Todos Santos. Look for more information in our events column as well.

We will see you next with our Winter 2023 issue. The deadline is January 10.

Exciting New Art Shows

Two exciting new art shows open this weekend on Friday, February 4 and Saturday, February 5.

Anne Hebebrand “Glory & Despair” at Galería Militar

Glory and Despair by Anne Hebebrand at Galeria Militar, Todos Santos, Baja, MexicoAnne Hebebrand has tapped into the elemental rawness of life’s daily twists and turns. Each new painting in this series represents a moment from the artist’s year. The energy of the fleeting hours and days, captured in paint and tactile sensuousness, immediate and reflective – she shares these personal moments with us. This work has to be seen in person! The muted yet vibrant colors and the delicate and sometimes rugged textures. A feast for the senses.

Embracing Life’s Messiness in all of its Glory & Despair. On view in Galería Militar and online February 4 – March 15, 2022.

Opening Day Reception February 4, 2022, 2 – 7 pm.

RSVP: https://www.galeriamilitar.com/hebebrand?fbclid=IwAR2VDJBOCILhOWypAqzlR2qBuz47HTxdbx8WZs_xY73jkvviWQBw0Od8WcI

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Roberta Booth “Divine Light” at Santa Terra Art Project

Roberta Booth, Divine Light, at Santa Terra Art Project, Todos Santos, Baja, MexicoRoberta Booth studied at both the Art Students League of New York and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She also studied with Alexey Brodovitch at Richard Avedon’s studio as well as with Art Kane and Bruce Davidson in NYC. It was after a successful career as a high fashion model for the Ford agency, she turned to the other side of the camera and became an internationally recognized photographer. Her photos have appeared in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, and many other publications worldwide. Her photographs of icons like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, Erté, The Rolling Stones, and Pink Floyd have become collectibles.

In 1982 Roberta became interested with the third dimension and entered the field of holography. Her teachers were inventors of this new field of vision involving laser and high-tech equipment. She received many grants and commissions and curated for major museums exhibitions such as Museum of Science and Industry Los Angeles; Powerhouse Museum Sidney, Australia; State Museum, Austria; and the Royal College of Art, London. In 1992, she produced the first holographic ticket for the Barcelona Olympics. It was in 1997 that she built a dome in the Mexican desert where she continues her studies of light. She is constantly photographing the beauty of the skies and sea.

Roberta’s new art exhibition is all about ‘Pure Light.’ She says, “I have named these holophotos as they are photographs of my holograms made with a pulse laser at the Center for Holographic Arts in New York City, 3-color master holograms, photographed and then printed on canvas as scrolls. Laser light is pure light (coherent) and is true to electromagnetic spectrum.”

Roberta was one of the first artists to work with this technique and now is the first to do pictures of holograms. She decided to photograph the holograms to show them in an exhibit. Even though you do not see the movement in three-dimensions as you do with a hologram, you will still get the pure spectral colors–coherent light. They are always in motion and color and music feel connected. Her scrolls are about the sea and sky; in both the scrolls and pictures you can see nature’s colors and may find them meditative and healing.

The show is an opportunity to see amazing scrolls, that play with the skies, sea, and healing light. Roberta’s opening exhibition will take place Saturday, February 5th, from 6 to 9 pm, at Santa Terra Art Project at Santa Terra in Todos Santos. Her work will be on display through March. To enjoy the coherent and pure divine light these scrolls are easy to transport in a tube or folded to take it home with you.

Galeria Militar Art Show

Assad-Wickham "Frida" 80 cm x 80 cm acrylic on plywood

Assad-Wickham
“Frida” 80 cm x 80 cm
acrylic on plywood

Assad x Wickham:
Quien Calla, Otorga |
Silence Means Conscent

For their next public exhibition, Galeria Militar in Todos Santos  presents QUIEN CALLA, OTORGA / SILENCE MEANS CONSCENT, by artists Christa Assad and Kevin Wickham, both residents of Todos Santos.  Assad a renowned ceramic artist and Wickham a concrete building expert brought their talents together to put paint on plywood.  Painting within positive and negative spaces on wood grain, their uniqueness and inclusion of natural elements of the surrounding area has been a touchstone for a growing Todos Santos Art scene.

This exhibition, Quien Calla, Otorga celebrates women of México past and present. While some of those represented are controversial figures in history, all are undeniably powerful. This show is about celebrating these women, their stories and continuing to give them a voice.

“Feminine energy is breaking out around the world. Women are taking control as political leaders and active fighters in the military and rebel groups. Their strength inspires the next generation of young women to find their voices and use their minds for positive change.”
–Christa Assad

CHRISTA ASSAD and KEVIN WICKHAM

Christa Assad and Kevin Wickham are a dynamic artist-duo whose shared desire to sustain a healthy, outdoor-based lifestyle led them to the pueblo mágico of Todos Santos. The topography, climate and natural resources of this tropical desert location attracted the artists and suited Kevin’s architectural plans for a site with passive and sustainable design systems. The couple have dedicated their home, workshops and garden spaces to be experiential for visitors.

“We’re creating a sanctuary for learning in a cross-disciplinary, think tank context. In a sustainable ranch setting, participants exchange ideas, practice wellness, and work toward assimilating the built environment into the natural one.”

Taller de Terreno was founded in 2017.

GALERIA MILITAR

Galeria Militar is activated by its artist and community and is located in the heart of the magico pueblo Todos Santa, B.S.C, Mexico. A place where creative discussions are talking places, it is both a gathering place as well as an exhibition space. With it recently refurbished space, doubling in size, the gallery mission is to showcase authentic local as well as international contemporary art in a collegial manner where collectors, artists and art lovers feel at ease to exchange.

Artists and owners Mark Gabriel (Painter/Musician) and Jessie Wallace (Photographer/Filmmaker) have been making art Internationally in many forms and are bringing their collective experiences and interests to the Todos Santos Art Scene with Galeria Militar.

Galeria Militar is happy to invite you to visit the gallery, by respecting the social distancing and sanitary rules currently in place. They are also happy to facilitate your visit of the gallery from the comfort of your home with video tours, and a virtual exhibition.

To sign up for the Virtual Exhibition or the Opening, please RSVP here. Places are limited to keep this event safe and friendly!

March 11 – April 12, 2021
Opening Night March 11, 4 – 8 pm by RSVP
https://www.galeriamilitar.com/silenceconscent

Fall 2020

Journal del Pacifico Fall 2020 cover by Kate Turning, Todos Santos, Baja, Mexico

Journal del Pacifico Fall 2020 cover by Kate Turning

Welcome back!

The communities of Baja California Sur have been working through these trying times, finding ways to adapt to the many changes, figuring out business options, and reaching out to help those in need. These individuals are neither heroes nor saints but are the backbone of real community that we love. Like many small businesses, we’ve faced changes and challenges, but we are resilient like our Baja California pueblos. In this issue, we have fascinating local history, as well as current stories on how our communities are rising to carry on in the “new normal.”

Kate Turning once again has given us a stunning Day of The Dead themed cover based on Mexican master Diego Rivera’s painting “The Flower Vendor.”

It is sad that there will not be a large Día de los Muertos celebration in Todos Santos this year, but you can now participate in the Catrinas contest virtually. See Ivonne Benítez’s Covid Catrinas story.

Photographer Emanuela Gardner shared one of her recent photographs on the opening page of the feature story by Bryan Jauregui, of Todos Santos Eco-Adventures, the story of a Pericue named Fabian—a Todos Santos rebel—based on research by Dr. Shane Macfarlan.

Galería Militar is exploring how to show art in the pandemic age. They will be holding a series of socially distanced shows to a limited audience in-person and a wider online audience. See the article in this issue.

A Granel opened in Todos Santos right before the April shutdown, but that didn’t stop them with their quest to reduce waste while providing sustainable, affordable products that biodegrade in the environment. Read more about it in our article.

Five years ago, the co-creators of Women Awakening embarked on a new journey of self-discovery and love, bringing to the community of Todos Santos a Women’s Summit designed to foster connection and celebration to the women of Todos Santos and beyond. In 2020, Elemental Change: Engaging in Our Evolution was chosen as the theme. Not long afterwards, the entire world began a great and seismic shift that has indeed altered the entire trajectory of all our lives. ”We could never have known at that time of our themes choosing, that it would prove to be so apropos and timely.”

With deep contemplation and great consideration for the community, the co-creators are announcing the cancellation of the Annual Women Awakening Summit, previously scheduled for December 4 to 6, 2020. “We may be separate physically at this time, but we are all truly together in spirit, and want you to know you are not alone. We are with you. The bonds we have built these past five years have not broken and we will join together one day again, when the climate is right for such a gathering. We encourage you to take this pause as we are also doing, as a time of spaciousness.”
Women Awakening CO-Creators
Angelica Vélez Mendez
Marimar Higgins
Jill Mollenhauer
Elena Ascencio Ibañez
Arii Corona Miranda

The Todos Santos Writers Workshop will continue, in its eighth year, as a virtual event via Zoom on January 31 to February 6, 2021, adding novelist and long-time Todos Santos resident Joanna Hershon to the faculty. The team of creative writers and editors “dedicated to inspiring and furthering the art of the written word,” also includes editor/memoirist Jeanne McCulloch, journalist/screenwriter Rex Weiner, author/memoirist Karen Karbo and poet/author Christopher Merrill, director of the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa. The one-week event, this year, offers workshops via Zoom in Fiction, Poetry, Writing for Stage and Screen, and two classes in Memoir. Additional events will include craft seminars, panel discussions, social gatherings, and the opportunity to engage one-on-one with instructors. Tuition is $850US. For more information: www.todossantoswritersworkshop.com

Étnica now carries textiles for the home like cushions, runners, placemats, and napkins—all made in Mexico.

We’d like to welcome two business that have recently opened offices on calle Juárez in Todos Santos: Legal & Tax, attorneys and accountants, and DAR Design and Construction. Legal & Tax can help with all your legal, immigration, and accounting needs, while DAR will work with you to design and build your dream.

This is the first year that Pueblo Pescadero is launching for sale the “Hacienda” home, a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, with a 1350 sq.-ft. private garage available for secure storage.
The Mini Super Munchies crew welcomes everyone into the new season with a few great new additions to their sweet little shop. They will be offering in-house prepared, healthy fresh food ‘to go” with daily hot food specials and a pre-order pick up option. Check out their website for details and daily specials: http://www.minisupermunchies.com. And, of course, all safety protocols are in place.

Casa Maya & Barefoot Cantina Bar in the Barefoot Luxury’s property at Cerritos Beach features freshly caught and delectably prepared local seafood dishes, carefully selected meats, locally grown organic vegetables, an assortment of sushi, homemade pastas, soups, and salads. Barefoot Cantina offers a generous selection of ice-cold beers, fresh-squeezed margaritas, tasty cocktails, and an extensive wine selection.

Baja Beaters Renta Yota, Todos Santos, Baja, MexicoNeed to get to the beach? Baja Beaters / Renta Yota has Toyota trucks for local rentals. Call or email for more information.

Allende Books has recently moved to a larger location close to the malecón near Sears in La Paz. In addition to an expanded inventory of books and gifts, they have a coffee shop, outdoor seating in the courtyard, Wi-Fi, and information on events and resources. Local artists have brought the interior and exterior walls alive with a dazzling display of the vibrant marine life found in the Sea of Cortez. Drop by and see their magical new space.

Pelican Theatre of La Paz has cancelled their 2021 production due to COVID-19.

This past summer, we featured advertisers on our blog including Irving de la Rosa, architect. When asked about his design philosophy, he stated: “To me, the important thing is that the people who will live in the spaces that I design are happy. As they look out their window, they see something beautiful: the ocean, the mountains, a tree, a bougainvillea. And that the spaces are bright, warm, and pleasant. If I could talk briefly about my philosophy that I believe is the most important thing in life, it is the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of a person—his connection with his environment, with nature. What I try to do in my spaces is create an equilibrium, a harmony in the person’s habitat.”

We look forward to seeing you with the Holiday/Navidad issue! The deadline is November 10.