Alfombra: From Sketches to Sawdust

Prior to departing on our amazing Antigua adventure, the members of the group had a few meetings about how to construct our alfombra along with what designs should be present. We were all inspired by the photos of the architecture and surrounding landscape, particularly after spending time learning about small bits of the city's history. Early in the brainstorm process, we wanted to somehow include the iconic Arch of Santa Catalina and how it perfectly frames one of Guatemala's dormant volcanoes, Agua. Pulling more architectural motifs, we chose an repetitive octagonal window, which is prevalent on much of Antigua's buildings and churches. We used the windows on La Merced, a beautifully decorated church close to our place of residence, Casa Herrera. In addition to the architectural and landscape inspirations, we chose to include images of Guatemala's national bird, the quetzal. With these three elements chosen, we also wanted to incorporate some of the geometric designs from Guatemalan textiles, specifically those present on huipiles. Fortunately, we were able to view some huipiles on display at UT in both the administrative offices as well as inside the Mesoamerica Center office on campus. Every element featured on a huipil, or decorated blouse worn by indigenous women, helps to identify which community or part of Guatemala she is from, including intricate designs and hand-woven images.
Once we chose all of the elements, the master design emerged through many sheets of grid paper and measuring to ensure we would be able to put emphasis on certain areas while also allowing for decisions to be made on site. Using foamcore, a lightweight thick sheet of sealed foam donated from the Blanton Museum of Art, I drew and cut out some of the stencils prior to arriving in Antigua. I fit them into my checked bag and unfolded them upon arrival.
Wanting to directly respond to the time we were physically present in Antigua, I drew and cut the stencil for the volcano, leaving room for cloud formations. We also cut additional geometric stencils to streamline the process, needing much help from Dr. Bolin and Katy in order to get through the thick cardboard that is typically used for stencils in Antigua.

In order for these stencils to serve their purpose, we all go to work on dying the raw sawdust supplied by neighboring wood shops and carpenters. This was a timely process using colored powder dyes and mixtures of hot and cold water. With the help of Jose and Marlon, two men employed at Casa Herrera and excellent teachers of sawdust dying, we worked for a few hours on the sawdust dying. All the sawdust, with the exception of royal purple and gold, needed to be mixed by hand prior to Thursday, the day of our alfombra making. Using small buckets and plenty of gloves, we sifted and rubbed the sawdust until it reached a uniform color, many of which were surprises. For example, the sky blue turned out to be a more rich jade or emerald color, and every new batch of sawdust provided new inspirations for the design.
In addition to the sawdust, Liz, Milady and I went to the open market to get some fresh flowers to supplement our designs. Already visiting the market earlier in the week, everyone provided suggestions about which flowers to get and what colors we needed. Katy reminded us of some lime green flowers to be used for the quetzal; these were very hard to find with only one woman possessing this beautifully vibrant shade. 
Filling multiple bags with colored sawdust and soaking the flowers in water, the raw materials were prepped and ready to be used for our alfombra.