Jerry Fenter

I’m back and I’m feeling great. The class in Mexico was amazing. I had a class of strong, independent and creative women who worked hard, played hard and experienced the magical realism of Latin America first hand. We experienced

“an irrational geography where you can be born with a star on your forehead, a sign of the marvelous;”  Isabel Allende’s Of Love and Shadows

Magical realism has it’s origin in the remembrance of childhood. Wonder and imagination runs wild. Mexico is a place where time can seem bent.

 “Why shouldn’t time slow down and stop occasionally, or even go into reverse?”  Isabel Allende’s Eva Luna

 Melaque was a beautiful setting for a wonderful class. I had an exceptional group of students who weren’t afraid to dive into the Mexican culture with everything they had. We each will remember it differently. One of the high points of the class was sharing our work and passing on the communal crown after a wild week of work and play.

We played and worked without boundaries like the children we are inside. We realized the need for stories in our lives. Each experience was a story. We created our own personal myths and shared some common myths that developed during the week. All around us was magic. It surprised some of us and others accepted it without question.

“ The things you’d least expect speak. There they are: speaking.  Bones, thorns. Pebbles, lianas. Little bushes and budding leaves. The scorpion….the butterfly with rainbow wings. The hummingbird….One and all have something to tell….I learned the story of some of the animals from them.”  Vargas Llosa The Storyteller

 The classroom became a sacred space.

“Books, quiet during the day, opened by night so their characters could come out and wander through the rooms and live their adventures.” Isabel Allende Eva Luna

We saw things we wouldn’t have seen without being aware of the sweet culture of Mexico.

“He knocked on every door up and down the coast, sweltering in the hot breath of the siesta, feverish in the humidity, stopping from time to time to give assistance to the iguanas whose feet were stuck in the melted asphalt.”   Isabel Allende Eva Luna

 We painted and wrote stories about the experiences we had.

 “All day they hauled mangoes, until there were none left on the trees and the house was filled to the roof-top….In the days that followed, the sun beat down on the house, converting it into an enormous saucepan in which the mangoes slowly simmered; the building…grew soggy and weak, and burst open and rotted, impregnating the town for years with the odor of marmalade.”  Isabel Allende Eva Luna

 The class seemed too short. It was over in a blink of an eye. I was lucky enough to stay for an extra week, traveling into the mountains with Nancy and Richard Lennie. Thanks to them for a wonderful time. And a special thanks to my students, Mary, Vonda, Judy, Cherie and Signe. I’ll soon have the dates for next year’s class. Again, I can’t wait.

 “Oh, Mexico, it sounds so sweet with the sun sinking low.”  James Taylor Mexico

Adios.

I’m back from beautiful Mexico.  I have so much to tell.  I need a few days to let my thoughts, mix, combine,  rise and make sense.  I spent the first week with a most powerful and beautiful group of talented and creative women.   The second week was spent in the Heaven that is San Sebastian Del Oeste. 

I haven’t the words yet to describe my feelings.  During my stay I read even more magical realism.  I’d like to quote part of Barbara Kingsolver’s book The Lacuna here.  In just these few words she captures the essence of Mexico in a way that truly involves all of the senses.

“Most of all, Enrique cared for pan dulces made with wheat- flour dough.  Puffy and soft with a grit of coarse sugar on top, filled with pineapple, sweet and tart from the oven’s wood smoke.  Pan dulce is no easy trick.  The vanilla has to be from Papantla.  The flour is ground in a stone metate.  The flour must be ground so fine it comes up into the air in clouds.  The hard part was mixing in the water, going too fast. 

Let me show you how to do this.  Begin with two kilos of the flour.  Make a mountain on the counter.  Into this mound, with your fingers, crumble the flakes of butter, the salt and soda.  Then pull it out like a ring of volcanic mountains around a crater.  Pour a lake of cold water in the center.  Little by little, pull the mountains into the lake, water and shore together, into a marsh.  Gradually.  No islands.  The paste swells until there are no mountains left, and no lake, only a great blob of lava.  The dough should be smooth, fluid and solid at the same time.  It will sleep overnight in a covered bowl.  In the morning roll it flat, cut it with a machete into squares, spoon a dot of pineapple filling on each one and fold it into a triangle, sprinkled with sugar grains soaked in vanilla.”

                                                           from The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

I’ll have more to write later.  So much to tell about the class, the group of  beautiful exceptional women, my hosts Richard and Nancy and the magical new people I’ve met in Mexico this trip. 

I’m having surgery on May third.  I’ll continue my posts when I recover.  Much more on the class and the country.

It’s getting very close to our week long workshop in Mexico.  I am so excited I can hardly sit still.  Melaque is so beautiful, I have a wonderful collage of people in my class, and everything points to one of the best weeks I’ve ever had.  I’m madly re-reading all of my Magical Realism literature and spent time on E-Bay getting some DVD’s to take to La Paloma and share with the class.  This year I’m bringing Love in the Time of Cholera, starring the handsome Javier Bardem and based on the wonderful book of the same name by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Everything is Illuminated, starring Elijah Wood and based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, and last but not least Pan’s Labyrinth, a movie that will shock us and make us more fully understand magical and grotesque realism.  I also always bring Y Tu Mama Tambien starring Maribel Verdu, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna…”Wildly erotic,” commented Rolling Stone Magazine on this movie.  The actors in this movie actually stayed at La Paloma while filming in the area so it’s fun for Nancy Lennie and I to share stories with the class. (Those guys are as hot as the Mexican sun!)  So I’m ready.  Anyone interested in holding a place in next year’s class please contact me by e-mail at fenter@gorge.net and I’ll put you on the exclusive list! 

Speaking of movies, the awards season now has passed.  The Hurt Locker took best picture at the Academy Awards.  My friend Bill was devastated by the loss of James Cameron’s Avatar.  Both he and I loved the message in the movie and of course the special effects.  So I started thinking.  We live so far up in the woods I don’t get to see all of the Academy Award films until they come out on Net Flix so….get ready for it…here are a few winners I’ve chosen from movies I’ve seen on Net Flix during the last year.  Announcing THE JERRY AWARDS.

Best Film: Riding in Cars With Boys.  Made in 2001 and Based on the autobiography by Beverly Donofrio, directed by Penny Marshall, (Laverne) and starring Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn and James wood, this is my favorite movie that I saw on my big flat screen (47″) this year.  Every time I watch this movie I cry for at least an hour afterwards.  It’s about a hesitant teen aged mom, who is very smart, but not smart enough to not get caught up in the moment and get pregnant.  She has plans.  Her plans change.  The story is sweet, sad and true.  Drew Barrymore is excellent in this role, as good as she was in Fifty First Dates.  Steve Zahn (who I’ve never noticed in any other movie or TV show) plays the teen aged husband, who attempts to do what’s right but just can’t seem to make things work.  His heroin addiction might have played a part in this.  His performance is award level!  What a ride.

Another of my “best” awards goes to The Invention of Lying starring my favorite comic of all time, Ricky Gervais.  He was the person responsible for The Office,  British style.  I won’t be a spoiler and tell you the plot but it is a funny movie. 

I also have some favorite TV shows that I try to catch each week.  Here are some of the winners. Breaking Bad will start it’s new season soon.  I miss Mad Men like crazy.  I will watch any of the three Law and Orders at any time during the day or night.  I especially like Law and Order Criminal Intent.  By the end of the day Ron and I are pretty tired of thinking so we also really enjoy The New Adventures of Old Christine, Medium and Two and a Half Men. I think Charlie Sheen is wonderful and I love his retro shirts. Pure eye candy.  I’ve just started watching American Pickers and Pawn Stars.  Great shows that involve finding and selling old junk and antiques.  Collecting is in my genes.  It’s so much fun to see some of the odd things that people value and carefully collect.  I can totally understand where they are coming from. 

Oh, we finally got a “new” car!  Ray Schultens Motors in the Dalles pulled through for us and found us our perfect car.  It’s a 2005 Ford Explorer, white, Eddie Bauer Edition, with four wheel drive and a moon-roof!  Austin Woolsey was our salesperson.  He was very good to us.  He used to be the chef at the Baldwin Saloon in The Dalles.  I would recommend him to anyone in this area looking for cars.  After selling us the car he’s off to Disneyland with his five kids for a vacation.  I think we wore him out. Photos of our new car (possibly named Eddie) will come soon.

I’m going to talk about the new “Mad Men” Barbie dolls in my next post.  I only wish they had the cigarettes and booze as accessories!  Unfortunately the designers of the dolls thought that these additions would be inappropriate.  But I remember the 60′s in suburbia…barbecues, parties, booze and cigarettes kept my parents busy while the kids played and got radical ideas about “free love” and “the war in Vietnam”.

Just a short post to wish all of you Happy Holidays and thank you all for being part of my life this year.  I’m looking forward to next year and keeping my fingers crossed and my prayer flags flying for the whole country.  Hopefully the economy will begin to come back, we’ll start bringing our troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq, and that all of us will get some form of public and affordable health care.  I am optimistic that this will happen but need all of you to be aware of what needs changing and to be an active part of that change.  We are the force behind this country and we need to get much more creative about our ways of solving problems.  The old politicians in a back room with cigars, pat on the back, closed door type of policy making should be left in the past. (Can you hear me President Obama?) Our elected leaders should answer to us…not to the insurance companies or to the drug companies.  Think of the money we would have to take care of our poor and homeless if we weren’t spending such disgusting amounts on war. The troops would come home, have health care, get jobs and go on with their lives.  I support that.  Ok…my rant is over now on to other things.

Here are Ron and I and Cody in a photo together.  This is a rare occasion.  To get this shot our neighbor and friend Sara Draeger took many many shots, most where one of the three of us was moving.  And it’s true, we haven’t stood still at all this year.  Ron is working on art and driving school bus, I’m working on shows (you can still catch The Darkside Show at the Attic Gallery until January third), teaching at The Dalles Art Center (check out the last post for January class), and teaching a Magical Realism Class in April in Mexico (there is still room in the class for you to sign up).  We are also working around the property getting it ready for  winter.  Ron has done a great job on our new pump house which is now finished until spring. It actually looks better than our cabin.  We should move into it.   We have wood, our animals, and a  giant Costco food supply for survival, although most of the neighbors here think the winter won’t be too hard.  I also will be starting my creativity coaching in January.  Please pass the word on to friends that may feel a need for this type of coaching. I think I’m pretty good at it.  Word of mouth is the best form of advertising. So have as little stress as you can during the rest of the year…life is short.  Spend time with the people you love and don’t waste time on guilt and anger.  In Cody’s words, “Wag more, bark less!” Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

 2010 Art in Mexico Workshop and Retreat

Jerry Fenter Instructor

Magical Realism

    It’s that time of year again to plan for something fun, relaxing and creative in a magical place.  It’s time to reserve your spot in Jerry’s 2010 workshop and retreat in Melaque, Mexico at the beautiful La Paloma Resort!  The workshop is open to experienced and inexperienced students. With some focus on watercolor and on the writings of the great Latin American authors, anyone with an interest in the arts, painters, poets, writers and photographers, are invited to spend the week of April 10th to April 17th 2010 with international artist and writer Jerry Fenter for a fun and rejuvenating workshop.

    With some background and information about Magical Realism, Jerry will teach you to play with painting and words in your own individual way to reflect the culture of Mexico with your work.

    Sound great?  The cost is $400 per person based on double occupancy at the La Paloma Resort for one week plus $600 per person for Jerry’s 5 day workshop.  The total comes to $1000 for the package (not including airfare).  For more details or questions call Jerry at 509-365-5119 or e-mail at fenter@gorge.net. To see the La Paloma Resort go to www.lapalomamexico.com/.

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Sign Up

To save your place, please fill out and send this form and a check for $50 made out to Jerry Fenter ASAP. This check is non-refundable but will go to the price of the workshop. To make reservations at La Paloma for your accommodations email, retreat@prodigy.net.mx  Ouestions? Call Jerry at 509-365-5119. The address is 26 Frontier Rd., Appleton, WA 98602.  Don’t miss out. The class will be limited this year to 10 students. 

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sign up now!!!!