Friday, March 6, 2009

The Art of Sign Language and Hand Signals......

Mexico is a country where so much is still done by hand.... be it the hands of local artisans, craftspeople, artists, repairers, musicians, tailors, street stall cooks; it is indeed a labour intensive country. Here are the sign painters at work in Ajijic, near Lake Chapala, Guadalajara....

Their efforts produce a stimulating rich and colourful environment to enjoy on a daily basis, whether it is displaying all the different ice-cream flavours for sale on a market stall in Oaxaca....

The wide variety of lurid drinks on sale on Sundays in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City.....

Or the fruit juices and ices available from this cart on the streets of the port city of Veracruz....

Beautiful hand-painted signs are used to advertise the beer available in this bar in Ensenada, Baja California....

And the hand-made tortillas available at this shop in the pueblo of Tepoztlan....


Most shops and services in both large cities and tiny pueblos still retain this appealing tradition of informing their potential customers via hand-painted signs. Check out this vet surgery in the city of Chihuahua.....

And this butcher's shop and herb shop in the heart of Creel in the Copper Canyon, far Northern Mexico.....


Who can fail to be charmed by the fetching and refreshing naivety and simplicity of such signs, that help to create such a feast for the senses in the most unremarkable and ordinary of things??...making daily life in Mexico an infinite visual treat so inspiring for any creative spirit..

So a big hand and round of applause for all these talented and skilled labourers in Mexico who work so hard to produce such a rich and visually appealing environment for us all.....

10 comments:

Unknown said...

wow, i love the feel of all the hand-lettered signs-- it's so different from the USA. IT feels so quaint and personal-- i really must visit your city someday!

Unknown said...

ok, one more-- because i seriously JUST finished commenting and went back to my email and saw that you had just commented on my blog. CRAZY!

Hey Harriet said...

They are very charming. Sign painting is very much a lost artform in other parts of the world so it's lovely to see the tradition still going strong in Mexico. You're right about it being more visually appealing. I must say that I was quite taken with the bar sign because it features my fave beer. Corona! Yummo!

Catherine said...

Hi Jess...yes an uncanny coincidence commenting at the same time...thanks for the visit..

Catherine said...

Hi harriet... are there pockets of signpainting still in rural Australia?? I can't quite remember if I am just imagining it!!

GalleryJuana said...

Great photos of the variety of signs to be found. I sure do miss the Mexican mangos and homemade corn tortillas!

Lisa's RetroStyle said...

My hats off to them! I hope they never change their way of advertising!!

Catherine said...

Hi Lisa and Juana...thanks so much for stopping by... Juana are you from mexico??

Wendy said...

Love these photos. The signage is a true art form.

kristine said...

a big round of applause indeed. i love the drinks cart - fabulous!!