Murals in Tepoztlán

Part of the magic of the "Magic City" of Tepoztlán comes from its many colorful murals adorning buildings. Some are quite imaginative and whimsical, like the one above.

I was strolling in my neighborhood when I noticed a new mural's creation (see the slide show at the end of this article). Sara was the painter. Five years ago I had interviewed her about her involvement with Judy Wray, a muralist originally from New York, who incorporated her non-artist Mexican neighbors to execute designs. Sara was her apprentice. I interviewed them both in this video.

NOTE: All of the images in this article were made by me in Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico, where I have lived since 2003.

In time, murals wear out (see the image below). Others merely get replaced by newer ones. This is an update from a previous blog with newer murals.

In this article, the murals speak for themselves. I'll not be doing much annotation.

I've taken photos of with as much of their entirety as possible. I show the detail work on many, mostly as image composites. You'll see that a lot of these murals are whimsical, or fantasy depictions, but there are some realistic exceptions.

Below are images that are not full wall murals. Two show storefronts, another three cover small spaces of wall, and there is a painted mailbox.

The next batch of images is devoted to artistic graffiti murals. First there is a composite showing two murals. But then things get complicated as we move into a sort of "meta" mural illustrated with a four-part collage. Each image in it has a tiny creature spray painting the mural. The last photo is a closeup of detail portraying a skull with a halo and a toilet plunger (?) stuck into it.

Finally we come to a slideshow of the project that stimulated the writing of this article. This is the mural by Sara Palacios, mentioned at the beginning. She can be reached on Instagram: @sara.flyingbeetle. Enjoy the slideshow, but then, don't forget to look at the predecessor of this article, from five years ago.

It was hard to capture this mural in its entirety. This photo was taken by a friend with panorama capabilities.

Below are images that are not full wall murals. Two show storefronts, another three cover small spaces of wall, and there is a painted mailbox.

The next batch of images is devoted to artistic graffiti murals. First there is a composite showing two murals. But then things get complicated as we move into a sort of "meta" mural illustrated with a four-part collage. Each image in it has a tiny creature spray painting the mural. The last photo is a closeup of detail portraying a skull with a halo and a toilet plunger (?) stuck into it.

Finally we come to a slideshow of the project that stimulated the writing of this article. This is the mural by Sara Palacios, mentioned at the beginning. She can be reached on Instagram: @sara.flyingbeetle. Enjoy the slideshow, but then, don't forget to look at the predecessor of this article, from five years ago.

It was hard to capture this mural in its entirety. This photo was taken by a friend with panorama capabilities.