portrait artist sketching

portrait artist sketching

two girls sitting in one chair,

one smiling at me

Two girls sit for their portrait during Artwalk, held every first Friday in and around the town square. The theme for July is Party in the Park. It's a clear, warm evening, so lots of folks turn out.

An entire family sits on one bench to share popcorn and listen to the band.

Teenage boys and girls gather in two groups, close but not yet together.

Two friends chat next to the bench with the statue of a Civil War soldier telling stories to a young boy.

A little boy wears a Frisbee on his head.

A magician amazes a group of children (and their parents) with a rope trick.

A tender moment between mother and son.

A father feeds his baby.

A grandmother holds her granddaughter.

Two boys play with two babies in a stroller.

A girl waits for customers at a concession stand.

A little girl enjoys a drink with two straws.

A toddler in a polka dot dress and shoes holds someone's blue shoe. I wonder whose?

A boy engrossed in playing with a green ball.

Two friends share a cozy moment at Flying Leap Art Gallery on the west side of the square.

Amantani baby

Amantani baby

in hand knit cap, Oshkosh jacket --

father, son, old, new

On Isla Amantani we are staying at a hospedaje run by an extended family. Everyone on this remote island in Lake Titicaca wears traditional attire, so it's funny to see this baby dressed in an Oshkosh B'gosh jacket below his hand knit chullo. I try to explain in my limited Spanish that I live a day's drive from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where this jacket is made. The father, who only speaks Quechua, is as amused by my gestures as the son he is lovingly supporting.

girls playing hand games

girls playing hand games,

washing our laundry, simple

actions, deep meaning

A pair of girls are playing a hand game on the bale while Robin and I wash our clothes in a bucket on our porch. As Robin is twisting her wet kamben she says, "A pregnant woman would not do this because it might strangle the baby with its cord." This statement reminds me so much of my superstitious grandmother that I laugh. But as a westerner living and working with the Balinese people, Robin respects their beliefs. She says a lot of them make sense when you understand the Balinese world view. The cosmos is divided into three worlds. The gods and spirits of ancestors reside in the upper world (swah), living humans reside in the middle world (bwah), and demons reside in the lower world (bhur). Geographical locations follow the same system, with mountains being swah, the plains, bwah, and the ocean, bhur. The human body also follows this tripartite division, with the head being swah, the torso, bwah, and the legs and feet, bhur. Robin tells me that Balinese will not walk under a clothesline for fear of underwear touching their heads. Laundry can't be hung in trees, or else the fruit and flowers can never be used for offerings again. Instead, laundry has to be laid on special bushes. A baby's feet are not allowed to touch the earth for the first 210 days (one year in the wuku calendar), until the tedak siten ceremony. I look up at the girls playing on the bale and ask, "Is it okay to pat children on the head?" Robin shakes her head but assures me that any actions done out of ignorance will be expiated by some offerings. Thank goodness for undoing rituals!

a laughing baby

a laughing baby

playfully held high above

mama's beaming face

Peru is a place of the heart, the heart of Pachamama, Earth Mother, and this quality of motherly love is very evident in this scene. A young mother, sitting in front of a shop in Aguas Calientes, is enjoying playing with her baby, smiling up at him as she holds him above her head. And each time she lifts him up, the baby lets out a delighted laugh.

between the train tracks

between the train tracks

and hot springs a young mother

nurses her baby

Beyond bearing a baby, the most intimate act of motherhood is nursing. This young mother is sitting outside her little shop on the steep street that leads from the train tracks to the hot springs in Aguas Calientes, quietly feeding her infant, completely at ease while all sorts of people pass by.

mama with bebe

mama with bebe

wrapped in a red k'eperina

snug against her heart

This mother and baby are standing in the pedestrian street outside the school with its colorful murals. She is carrying her baby in a k'eperina, Quechua for a handwoven rectangular cloth used for carrying children and other goods. Often red, with intricate striped designs, it is used by both men and women, even by those who wear modern dress, like this young mother in jeans and a sweater. The baby wears a hand knit chullo on his head. This first cap is traditionally knit by his father and the color white indicates that the baby is a boy.

on the isle of love

on the isle of love

a moon-faced baby peers out 

from his ruffled cap

On Isla Amantani I fell in love with this little boy, son of the family who run the hostel we stayed in. This circular island in Lake Titicaca is also called Isla Kantuta, after the national flower that grows here. Amaru, our Inka shaman guide, calls it the Love Island, because of the pair of peaks, each with an ancient temple on top to Pachamama, Earth Mother, and Pachatata, Earth Father. I saw evidence of this love theme in the heart shape set in the center of the white window grilles on the adobe houses. The costumes of the women and children are very bright, with multicolored embroidered skirts, blouses and shawls. In contrast, the men wear black pants, vest and hat with a white shirt. Unmarried children wear ruffled stocking caps, the boys with a white background and the girls in brown, both knit with colorful designs. This baby boy is obviously loved by his entire extended family and charmed us all.