Woman Grinding Maize (La Molendera) by Diego RIvera

I love writing this blog, because it makes me discover not only artists, but also countries. Researching and reading about these paintings makes me learn a lot about a country’s history and culture. This is why I love paintings that portray food so much. Food says a lot about a country’s culture. Many of my posts have been about European artists. Today I want to move west of Europe and land in Latin America, specifically, Mexico.

Today’s painting is Woman Grinding Maize (La Molendera) by Diego Rivera.

Woman Grinding Maize (La Molendera) by Diego RIvera, 1924

 One of Rivera’s specialties was to paint murals about people’s struggles in life.

I really like this painting. I love how simple it is. Rivera uses just a few colors: brown, grey, black, blue and white. The woman’s dress is white, which makes her pop out, since all the other colors are darker. Therefore the viewer focuses on the woman.

I love how Rivera portrayed the woman. She is so focused on grinding the maize and preparing the tortillas, that she is not even looking up, from the grinding board. What I love so much about this painting is how Rivera portrayed the body of this woman. She is working so hard, that her muscles are so tight and tense. You can see this when looking at her arms and shoulders.

As for today’s recipe I did some research on Maize or Corn Tortillas. I found a link on the history of Tortillas, a dish that was already popular during Aztec and Mayan times.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_corn_tortillas/

Here is a recipe on how to make the Corn Tortillas at home from scratch.

Enjoy!