Mosaic and Art at Mayan Beach Garden

Behind the Mosaics at Mayan Beach Garden

Those who pass through the door of Mayan Beach Garden usually come for the beach, but once they are here, they find many pieces of native art and original mosaics created from both tile and flip-flops found on the beach. I'm happy that people like the work that comes out of here. It isn't all mine. I couldn't do it without the craftsmanship of Rafael Palafox, who has worked here at Mayan Beach Garden for 14 years and now he can take my drawings and turn them into fabulous floors and tile work. I can't even claim all of the flip-flop work because all my guests bring me flip-flops and as I write this, Doris, my cook, is cutting flip-flop bands into tiny pieces.

I never started out to be an artist, but after many years of working in art, I feel defined by art, pulled to create and fulfilled when I do. I remember as a child doodling over my homework, and later as a college student drawing people laying on the beach. My friends were mostly artistic spirits, so I think it was no surprise to anyone when I majored in art and began defining my self through paintings that were segmented in many pieces, much like mosaics. One of my favorites is pictured below.

Life and children got in the way of painting and I was fortunate enough to make a living creating art for the likes of Marvel and later for Sierra On-Line's computer games where I was the designer for a short series of computer games entitled Shivers. When I finally made the decision to move to a Mexican beach I thought I would pick up painting again, but running a beachfront hotel in an out-of-the way place in Mexico didn't allow much time or inclination to paint palm trees and turquoise seas. However, while the scenery was stunning, I was more inspired by the artistry of Mexico and the many colored fish swimming under the sea. At the same time I was disturbed by the amount of plastic and fishing garbage that washed up on the beaches and vowed to make a statement.

I had never created "real" mosaics before I arrived in Mexico, but was determined to use as much of the beautiful talavera tile as I could throughout the hotel. Since I couldn't speak Spanish back then and didn't know how to ask for help, I decided to start on some stairs that led up to one of the rooms here at Mayan Beach Garden. But I'm not a strait line person, so one of the first things I did was to make a fish climbing up the stairs, followed by a flying carpet at the landing.

Flying Carpet moscaidwith talevera tiles and Sunflowers

As much as I loved making mosaics out of tile, it is not a task that is kind to getting interrupted because the grout will dry in your bucket. By the time I started on the 2nd flight of stairs, I realized I would never finish it as we were getting busier all the time. It was at this time I started having Rafael grout my work and he did such a good job, before long I challenged him with a bathroom sink and mirror. He followed instructions perfectly. So I gave him a couple of patios to lay mosaic tile and taught him to fit the pieces together. It wasn't long before I did the detail work and he was filling in the backgrounds. I learned how valuable a good craftsman could be when I did the headboard mosaic over #6 - Tonina. He did many of the palm fronds and most of the background tile

One of the most ambitious projects we tackled at the hotel were the floors of the large patios. The reason we have these large patios is that they are cisterns that hold rain water that is collected at the roof. It is then used for showering for guests staying at Mayan Beach Garden. The hard part was getting the slope right to that rain water doesn't puddle and we didn't always get it right.

Beachfront Suite (#3)

Making art out of discarded flip-flops came later. I knew I wanted to create art from the plastic on the beach and for over a year I scoured the internet for ideas but none of them seemed right for me. So much of the plastic breaks in your hand as you pick them up, so I was at a loss. Then about 9 years ago, one of my guests left me a message on the beach. It was a rainbow of abandoned flip-flops that had carefully arranged on the beach. I knew immediately that it was for me. What I didn't know was how limited the colors were. There were about 6 blues, 3 blacks 3 greys, 2 oranges 3 yellows. . . you get my point.

Below are images with information about the location in the hotel and the medium. You can tell I like fish and am inspired by the fish in the sea.