Shell out your $10 quickly. Unless NIOSA ordered thousands more pins than normal, the medal Kathleen Trenchard designed for the 2010 Fiesta event should sell out quickly. Delicately crafted in metal instead of paper, the papel picado NIOSA pin is turquoise, pink-ribboned and festooned with dangling charms.
Traditional papel picado, or punched paper, is created with hammer and chisel, and Kathleen works magic. While she produces traditional banners, her portraits are amazing, sometimes unexpected (two women eating dim sum) and always immediately recognizable (a skeletal version of Mike Casey riding his bike in the King William Fair). Picking up my husband’s shoes from being resoled deep on the south side, I immediately recognized the man waiting on me – Kathleen’s bootmaker.
Order one before they become rare collectibles fetching high prices on eBay.
April 6 Note: If you missed seeing it during Luminaria San Antonio, visit Kathleen’s March 16 blog to see her wonderful papel picado portrait of El Curro and Teresa Champion.
Postcards from Barton Springs 