Would you believe? Ana found a mola store!

Frequent visitors to Ana Darcy's blog know of Ana's love of the folk arts and textile arts of Earth. She visits every exhibit she can find of folk toys, dia de los muertos artifacts, paintings, arpilleras (textile sculptures), and molas from Panama (essentially folk paintings with fabric). We have covered many of these here.

One post, on the mola, elicited a comment from a woman in Panama who sells molas online. Florymola.com is a lovely website with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of molas on sale, plus information about the art form, the women who create them, and more.

We couldn't help it: we had to order some. They measure about 10 x 15 inches (25 x 40 cm) and are pictured below, front and back. At the same time very simple yet extremely intricate, they are immensely creative and colorful: totally unique, lovely art.

They could be framed, made into cushions, handbags, or added to clothing to stunning effect. They weren't expensive: only about $10 each. They mail all over the world. Mail to the United States takes three to six weeks.

We wouldn't be surprised if Ana Darcy accumulates quite a collection--but she'll do it under an alias, of course!

(Click for a full-size slide show.)

A frog

Two birds

Birds and...a bat?

http://www.florymola.com

(See the first paragraph above for links to other posts to Ana's favorite folk art.)

Do you know Ana Darcy, our Distant Cousin? 

Meet Ana!

Reader comment: "What makes a book outstanding to me is that I am sad when I come to the ending and the characters stay with me for a long time after reading. This series is one of the few that is on my "Must Read" list when others ask me for book recommendations."  

Ana can't stay away from the Folk Toys of the World exhibit

Unless you're a first-time visitor to this blog of our dear extraterrestrial Ana Darcy, you already know that her ancestors, when they were delivered to the planet Thomo some 3000 years ago, died in droves.

The ultimate survival of our distant cousins was due partly to luck, partly to the aid provided them by whoever or whatever it was that took them there, but mostly by their own determination and cooperation, especially in the matter of the nurturing of families and raising of children.

Like most all Thomans, then, Ana retains a love of children, and because of that, a recent exhibition in a local art gallery of folk toys of the world, made by parents and others for their children, often from the most humble of materials but with abundant and obvious love and imagination, captivated Ana completely. She has returned to it over a half dozen times.

In an earlier post we have shown some photos of various displays from this exhibit. Now we shall concentrate on closer views of selected items. What child would not love these toys?

(These photos are generously sized. Click on any photo to begin a slide show.)

Folk Toys of the World, part 1

Posts on El Dia de los Muertos, w. toys & figurines

Wearable textile art from the Americas

Arpilleras, textile sculptures, from the Americas

Molas, Panamanian stitched paintings

Nursery rhymes from a Mexican-American grandmother

Dichos (proverbs) from a Mexican-American grandmother

Meet the extraterrestrial Ana Darcy!

"Refreshingly different.  What a nice surprise 'Distant Cousin' was - quite unique.  It has humor, moves along at a pleasant pace, and...I found myself smiling the entire time I was reading it.  There is a subtle wisdom and numerous life philosophies throughout this book.  To sum it up: good story - thoughtful, comfortable, and fun!"