LELE DOLL AND THE TULIPS, HOUSE PORTRAITS AND ANOTHER YEAR TO CELEBRATE

 Hello! I am so excited to present my new oil painting, I have been working with a Lele doll this time and I am very happy with the result.

LELE AND THE TULIPS

For a long time, Mexican art has been strongly associated with the image of death: catrinas, altars, skeletons... beautiful and profound symbols, but also very recurrent.I have decided to focus my art on another equally powerful, but less explored symbol: the Mexican Lele dolls.

For me, they represent what is alive: childhood, joy, the indigenous roots that continue to breathe, create, and resist. Each Lele is a song of colors, a flower that never withers, an expression of tenderness and strength that lives on in the hands of our artisans.

Painting them is a way of saying: "Here we are, we are still alive, we continue to create beauty from the everyday."

I choose to portray these dolls not only as cultural symbols, but as a reminder that our Mexican identity is also woven with love, play, hope, and community.

Lele: A Living Symbol of Light and Roots

In this work, I decided to depict the Lele doll, a figure deeply rooted in Otomi culture and recognized as an emblem of Mexican folk art. Originally from Amealco, Querétaro, the Lele doll—whose name means "baby" in Otomi—is much more than a toy: it is a living heritage, handmade by Indigenous women who transmit with each stitch the memory of their ancestors, their worldview, and their connection to the land.

While many artists are inspired by catrinas—which are also part of our cultural richness—I felt the call to go in another direction: to portray what lives on.

For me, Lele represents sweetness, feminine strength, innocence, indigenous identity, and the pure joy that reminds us who we are.

She is a symbol of life, color, and hope. Instead of focusing on the symbols of death, I decided to celebrate what flourishes, what grows, what heals.

Painting her is a way to elevate energy, to connect with the sacred in everyday life, and to honor our roots from a softer, brighter, and more spiritual place. I want this painting to be a reminder that the beauty of Mexico lies not only in its legends of the afterlife, but also in its hands that create, in its colors that heal, and in its dolls that tell stories of love, resilience, and joy.

Between life and death: I choose to paint what flourishes

In Mexican art, death has always been a powerful and beautiful presence. Catrinas, calaveras, altars... they teach us to honor what was, to remember with love, and to laugh at death.

But on my artistic journey, I felt the call to go in another direction: the life that still breathes.

I choose to paint Lele, the Otomi doll, not only as a cultural figure, but as a symbol of what lives on in our roots. Lele represents childhood, community, feminine wisdom, and the vibrant soul of our Indigenous peoples.

While the catrina honors those who are no longer with us, Lele reminds us of those who still struggle, create, laugh, and embroider their history with vivid colors.

While the art of death has an undeniable symbolic and poetic depth, Otomi art offers a more luminous vibration, focused on what flourishes, what endures, what continues to beat.

By choosing to paint Lele dolls and other manifestations of this culture, I honor life here and now, the living heritage of our people, and the spiritual strength manifested in simplicity, color, and love.

While the catrina honors those who are no longer with us, Lele reminds us of those who still fight, create, laugh, and embroider their history with vivid colors.

Both are part of Mexico. But today, I choose to focus my brush on tenderness, hope, and colors that heal and uplift.

To paint a Lele is to pay homage not to death, but to the life that persists. To the hands that create it. To the culture that endures.

It is an act of love, a prayer of light, a vibration that invites us to see the everyday as something sacred.

I chose to paint tulips even though they're not typical Mexican flowers because they're a part of my life in Missouri. Every spring I see them bloom in my garden, right in front of the window, and for me they've become a symbol of rebirth and connection to my present. By placing them next to the Lele doll, I wanted to unite my Mexican roots with the beauty of what surrounds me.

You can buy this piece  HERE

CHANGING OF SUBJECT....

I have started to make house portraits as I find this very creative. How many of us can remind the house of our childhood or our fist home? Well, now I am happy to recreate in paper that special place and you can request yours. HERE

This month so far has been amazing, I have celebrated myself for another year and I made the most delicious lemon cake ever! I promise I will share the recipe next time with proper photos, so far here some favorite pictures.

TO SEE: You can't miss the video about LELE and the tulips, where you can see all about it. It's in spanish but you can turn the subtitles on.