Sayulita Beach is possessed of great natural beauty. Of this there can be no doubt. Gorgeous swaying palms, dramatically breaking waves on the shore, birds wheeling, fish leaping, the moonrise, the jungle-draped hills, the sunsets—and all the rest of what makes Sayulita magic.
And then there is the beauty—or the images, anyway–that people make. Inspired by the scenery, the life lived here, people make graffiti art–not just on canvas or paper to be shown in a gallery, and not just with cameras or paint brushes or other tools of the artist’s trade. Instead, people, adults and kids alike, take their tools—paint, hands, brushes–and head out onto the beach to create colorful folk art–often childlike or hippie-influenced images–on rocks, logs, trees, the falling-down walls of abandoned buildings. These images most often sing of innocence, in bright colors. Admittedly, some of us would rather see the log left a log, unmarked, but sometimes there is a little visual magic in that burst of color on a gray wall or fallen tree.
Although most of the art is anonymous, every now and then you happen on someone making a painting on a rock or a log, and you are then able to attach a name and a face to the art. Many of the works along the north beach were made by Elena, who lives in the Villa Palmar condominiums with her family. Nice to see some paint artfully applied to these unusual places. Even if you’d prefer to see the natural materials left natural—and some of us would–graffiti doesn’t have to be hard to look at.
