5-week online course
Dates: Wednesdays March 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29
Time: 6 - 7:30 pm ET
Admission: $100 Patreon members / $120 general admission

PLEASE NOTE: This class requires supplies, a full list will be emailed upon registration.

All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time.

Ex-votos are wonderful painted artworks, usually rendered on tin or canvas, that traditionally depict everyday miracles, usually related to medical recoveries, created after a prayer was answered. After this, they would be left in thanks at a saint’s altar, public testimony of faith and gratitude. Today, they have evolved into celebratory religiously-oriented imagery, no longer focused on medical miracles, but those of day to day life.

Most likely originating in Italy in the 15th century, they were brought to the new world during colonial times, becoming popular articles of faith, devotion, and gratitude among the less wealthy uneducated population.

Today, ex-votos have evolved into a unique artistic Mexican subculture, depicting other kinds of little miracles. These wonderfully detailed images are often vindicate minority population groups, seen as underdogs, from luchadores to lgbtq+, along with the paranormal and a rich variety of inventive imaginary situations. They always include the image of the saint understood to have activated the miracle after invocation and prayer, becoming an act of devotion and gratitude, as well as a complicit visual reminder of the situation.

In this 5 session workshop, we will review a graphic history of the cultural and artistic phenomenon of ex-votos in Mexico from Colonial times to the present. We will immerse ourselves in the fantastic images and compositive elements, anecdotes, concepts and colors, which will create a strong foundation for the production of our own painted piece along the way.

Teté Montero is a Mexican end of life educator, death doula, unicorn enchantress, story teller and weaver, by choice. She is neurodivergent by neurology, a self appointed renaissance woman, a textile artist and teacher. She apprenticed under the care of master weaver Kenzo Jo in textile Saori art while in Japan. In addition, she has studied at University of Cambridge, Harvard University, The Hospice Association, Upaya Zen Center, and the Authentic Presence Organization. Her focus has been in medical studies, contemplative end of life care, medieval studies, socially engaged Buddhism and art. She currently runs a textile art studio in Mexico City with her rambunctious dog Kayi. She is Buddhist too!