Gabriele Layne Celebrates Fiesta 

by Pam North

Gabriele Layne's latest creation is a thoroughly bright and exuberant vignette that shouts celebration in vibrant, happy colors. It's an immediate mood-lifter, and a clever historic commemorative.
Layne lives in San Antonio, TX, and from April 14-24, 2017, the 125th anniversary of Fiesta will take place, with many different events and parades. Over the past century-plus, Fiesta has grown into an annual celebration of San Antonio’s rich and diverse cultures. 
Fiesta San Antonio started in 1891 as a one-parade event to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. A group of ladies decorated horse-drawn carriages, paraded in front of the Alamo, and pelted each other with flower blossoms. Since 1959, the Fiesta San Antonio Commission has continued the tradition, coordinating the planning activities of 100 local nonprofit organizations and more than 75,000 volunteers to make Fiesta San Antonio a real Texas-sized festival, with an economic impact of more than $284 million for the Alamo City.  
“So why not celebrate this event in miniature?” explained Layne. “I would love to have made a miniature parade with floats and all of the costumes, but that would have been a project of many years, so instead I created my idea of a celebration in a vignette.” 
The shelf unit is painted in a “south of the border” color scheme; paprika red on the outside and bright yellow inside. Paper flowers decorate the top; braided ribbons festoon the left and right sides. A windsock made from a wire ring, with colorful satin ribbons and flowers, is glued to the front with two headdresses and a paper flower wreath. A sombrero (broad-brimmed hat with embroidery and sequin trim) is decorated with paper flowers, and a pottery bowl, plate, and beaded necklaces are placed beside it. 
The top shelf has a star-shaped piñata, a pig piñata, a wreath with paper flowers, and more necklaces. A piñata is a decorated container, filled with candies and small toys, that is hung high for blindfolded participants to strike and break open to get the treats. To make these, Layne used a small plastic animal on which she glued narrow overlapped strips of thin wrapping paper. 
The shelf underneath boasts Mexican food that Layne made using polymer clay: nachos, tacos, tostados, and two glasses of margaritas made with resin. Salt and slices of lime glued on the rim of the glasses give an authentic look. Decorative plates with colorful peppers rest against the back wall to the left and right of a wall plaque. 
On the next shelf are a blue pitcher and four glasses decorated with white flower transfers. Lidded jars and a set of rattles are set against a background picture cut from a greeting card. On the shelf underneath is another set of rattles, a colorful wreath with ribbons, and a round piñata. The bottom shelf has baskets of cascarones (tissue paper covered eggshells filled with confetti). More colorful plates are displayed in the corners, and greeting card fragments are glued against the back and outside of the shelf.   
Flower crowns made of paper flowers (terecitas) and cascading ribbons are sold at Fiesta, and Layne's version of these crowns are made from paper punch-outs and narrow ribbons. Colorful maracas, used to rattle and shake in rhythm to the music, are rendered in miniature as wood beads, with inserted handles of tiny turnings, that are hand-painted and coated with clear varnish. Papel picado banners (tissue paper cut into elaborate folk art designs) complete the authentic look. 
Layne's creation is a perfect type of representation that collectors of  miniatures might want to craft as a memento of a trip to San Antonio or Mexico.