I cried the day I had to leave the teaching job in Rialto.. because it seemed the work I had done to become qualified as a teacher and to get the job, and now all of that was going to be wasted. I had to choose between mylove for my husband and my need to build my career and, of course, income. I was leaving my independence behind and stepping into an unknown and dependent situation. It upset me terribly, but I did not say anything to Pete. Instead, I went to Mexico with him without expressing my feelings about it. The sale of the dairy to some Pakistanis took place, and we both began to pack our things. Pete actually did most of the packing and getting rid of things, as I was away in Idyllwild for several weeks taking a painting workshop with Francoise Gilot-Salk, the former wife of Pablo Picasso and Paloma Picasso's mother. The workshop was excellent. She taught how to use color and design, and used the history and theme of playing cards as a basis for her instructions. She explained that the “houses” of playing cards represented the different parts of society, with the diamonds representing the merchants and money lenders; the spade represented the farmers and animal husbandry groups; the clubs represented the military, soldiers of the society; and finally the hearts represented the artisans and craftspeople. They were all entertwined in the game, and at the top were the king, queen, and jack. The joker of course was the court jester who soothed bad tempers with humor and therefore was in effect the “wild card”. She pointed out that the colors and line designs of the figures on the cards included colors and patterns that were considered to have power.
Idyllwild was a charming town, and it was mid winter, so there were patches of snow all about. I stayed in a hotel, where other workshop participants stayed as well. One woman named Cynthia made more of an impression on Francoise than I did, and I am not sure why. At any rate, we all painted and got our critiques and helpful advice from Francoise, and from another artist who specialized in drawing as well. I took long walks along the pine tree lined roads, down to the avenue where all the little boutique shops were. Pete came up on the weekend to stay with me, and we dined at the Chart House, enjoying prime rib, drinks, and wonderful sex afterward in our fireplace enhanced room. As always, we were so happy together ... it seemed no matter how many years we were together, the romance was still fresh and amazing. When the weekend was over, I stayed the next week until the workshop was over, and returned to the dairy home ready to finish packing and move to Mexico. The experience of learning from Francoise was a grand opportunity. She taught me a new way of looking at color, design, symbolism, and the creative process. One neat trick she revealed was the use of painted papers, cut into shapes and held against the colors already on the canvas to see if it was the right color to add for either color harmony or color impact. That is a tool I use today. The other long lasting lesson I learned from her was to use themes in my art projects.. to unify a series of works and to give focus and foundation to the works. I met Francoise's daughter Aurelia, who was spending time in Los Angeles studying with a Harlem dance troupe. Her other daughter Paloma was still in New York, designing jewelry and developing her signature perfume. Paloma inherited much of Picasso's art works that had not already been consigned to galleries and that were left behind in the home. I purchased Francoise's book Life with Picasso and she signed it for me. The book was a good read, a diary of a beneficial but sad marriage of two people who were so different from one another. It seems so often to be the man who is the famous figure, bringing a woman into his life where she shares the light of his fame, then afterward she retains a bit of fame herself just for having associated with him. Why is this so? Why cannot it be more often the reverse, with the woman being the power?
The packing to move to Mexico was done mostly by Pete, and he made a comment that often when some chore like that had to be done, I was unavailable.. and it was true, but there was often school obligations I had to attend to, or studying to be done. In making this move, we had to let go of most of our possessions. Once the dairy sale was concluded, we had no place to put the furnishings and all the things we had accumulated, and did not want to have things stored. We had no idea how long we would be gone. We might never return, but spend our lives in Mexico or Sri Lanka or some other outpost abroad. The 1967 cherry Ford Mustang was given to Pamela, as well as tables, sofas, lamps and chests and all sorts of other items. Other things I left with my mother or gave away to friends. We were becoming cut loose of the U.S. and our past lives. During this time period of closing up to go, we woke up sometimes at two in the morning and went to Denny's for an ice cream sundae. It was such fun to be in this adventure together. On the day of our departure, we got into the car and drove. We drove all the way to Guadalajara, and I recall how it looked as we came into the area overlooking the city in the distance. It was dark, late evening, and the smell of cooking fires filled the night air as we approached the last hills leading into the city limits. Then the lights in the distance came into view, like so many shining jewels glimmering in the darkness, sending a glow high into the sky above. I was elated. This was going to be an exciting new life. We were now becoming international citizens, no longer owing allegiance to any particular country. I enjoyed that feeling of having no strings to a particular place. The feeling of being detached from the routine world and its web of attachments such as a job, a house, a local and national government to oppress you, lifted my spirits and I became filled with the joy of the place. The romance of it went to my head and I began to realize how many opportunities I would encounter that I would never have had staying in California.
The first night we were in Guadalajara, we stayed at a hotel on the outer edge of the city. It was modern and quiet, but a bit spartan in decor. It did not matter, for tomorrow we would be again on our way. The next morning Pete bought a newspaper and began to look at the ads for rentals, either homes or apartments. He found a condominium in the heart of an upscale area called Bugambilias, on Calle Nebulosa. We called and talked to the owner and met that day to make the agreement. It was a new complex near the Plaza del Sol, within walking distance of everything one might want: supermarkets, post office, restaurants, department stores and boutique shops as well, and of course banks and miscellaneous stores such as furniture and hardware stores. There was a Pipiolo's restaurant just four or five blocks away where women made fresh tortillas as you watched, and they served charbroiled onions with carne asada tacos and hot bowls of chili beans. It was wonderful, my favorite place to eat. There was also the Caballo Blanco, or White Horse, Restaurant, which was a steak dinner house with wonderful tender steaks and great desserts. And everywhere we went the coffee was marvelous. We discovered that one of the best coffees we made at home, Nescafe Instant made in Mexico. I added generous amounts of cream to it and sometimes added hot chocolate mix to make it really wonderful to drink. Today I still prefer that, made with milk instead of water, to any other coffee, brewed or otherwise.
As we got settled, we bought some furnishings. Some of the biggest differences between Mexico and the U.S. at that time was in the way in which things such as bathroom and any other hardware fixtures or items are found. In the U.S. there was the Home Depot and Ace Hardware stores, where anything for shower heads or toilets or lighting or shower rods can be found all in one place. Not so in Mexico at that time. To get a shower rod for example we had to find a special store that sold only aluminum tubing for shower rods, and the fitting for each end with the screws that had to be put into the wall. Lighting had to be bought in separate stores as well. For furniture, we shopped in native shops or open markets where craftsmen showed their items. WE bought an equipale set, a round table and four bucket type chairs, all covered in the pigskin typical of equipales. I still have the table in storage as I write this, some thirty years later. The chairs weathered and wore out long ago, from being out in bad weather. The table was kept indoors so it is still fine. Most of the things we purchased while in Guadalajara were small items. I purchased local sculptural pieces to use as subjects for watercolors, and woven goods such as rugs for the floor areas. We shopped at the Cadena Del Oro supermarkets, buying great aged steaks and the many wonderful cheeses made in Mexico. Counting in pesos became natural after awhile, and watching television was a natural and easy language school. Even the commercials taught me things.. such as the Pegasa ad, which had a jingle : “Pegasa penuria, dos veinte dos veinte dos.. “.. which meant that Pegasa was cheap, and the words two twenty two twenty two was the telephone number. Then there was the Planchetex commercial, which was a liquid starch used by housewives to stiffen the collars of their husband's shirts, and the La Rubia que todos quieren.. was a light beer, blonde in color.. “the blonde that everyone wants” was the phrase in English. This was fun, this learning by commercials.
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