Galo Ramirez: artist extraordinaire

Galo posing with a 15 ft. painting he worked on in Cancun

Galo Ramirez is an old soul. He is also an incredible artist. Like a Renaissance man, he is a professional in many mediums - paintings, murals and statues for starters. He has worked in Cozumel for years and had many exhibitions on the island and elsewhere. Even though he is from Mexico City, he is a true Cozumeleño. Laid back, sincere and with a charismatic personality, it is impossible not to like him. I think he is terrific. I consider him not only an artist I like to work with, but a real friend.

Galo has a studio in his home at the corner of 25 and 1 South. Whenever the door is open, it signifies you are welcome to go in. He greets you with a handshake as if he has always known you, offers tea or a more adult beverage. He shows you with enthusiasm what he has in his showroom, but that is only the beginning. He also displays many of his works elsewhere. We have dressed models with his paintings. I especially love what he did with the Penthouse in Palmar Condominiums. I also have his paintings on the walls in our showroom, The Magic of Design.

Palmar penthouse model with contemporary art from Galo

Hall piece in waterfront condo

He has worked with clients of ours to finish the decoration of their condos. For example with our clients, Dr. Lourell and Lynda Sutliff, - once the furniture was in place, he went to meet them and together they chose five paintings that complement the interior furnishings. They are terrific.

Sutliff painting to complement the furniture

Jazz series painting that coordinates with the room

For Kandy Stahl and Chuck Long, they had some of his paintings in their home in the states they brought down. They also added more once they arrived to live here full-time. Kandy and Chuck are collectors of art and artifacts from many local artists. More about some of their other pieces in another post!

One of the most exciting projects I worked on with Galo was a painting five meters wide (about 15 feet) for a client of ours in Cancun. I worked on the furniture with the owners and we picked a beautiful, bright geometric print fabric from Germany for the accent pillows. This fabric then became the theme of the project. (I will try to dig up the sample to add here at some point.)

There were chocolate sofas, cream leather chairs, dark chocolate woods and red accent chairs. The geometric print worked to tie it all together. Sandy and Luis, the owners of the new 5,000 sq. ft. home, met with Galo and me to discuss their wall painting. They wanted it to be special. The couple flew from Cancun for the day and we visited the exhibition that Galo had at the Casa de la Cultura, some paintings he had at Playa Azul hotel and his studio. Luis loves jazz and Galo discovered this in conversation, and Galo has a jazz series of paintings that are super popular and impressive. 


From that, Luis and Galo met a few times to come up with the concept of the painting. I wanted a diptych or a triptych (split it up in to 2 or 3 paintings that flowed from one to the other,) but Luis insisted it be in one piece. This was a challenge as how would we get the painting to Cancun and in to the house? In the end, Galo actually built the frame in the living room and painted it on site. He spent six weeks in Cancun working on the painting.

Here it is in progress:

Work in progress

Here is the final product with Galo and the proud owners! You can see the scale of the piece. It is really incredible!

Final piece créme de la créme

 Galo's work can be found on his facebook page, click here

Funny Photo at Cozumel

Don't throw trash!

I have been very neglectful of my Cozumel blog, with traveling and now posting on my Gargoyles & Graffiti blog, with all the great things I saw on my trip. But I couldn't help posting this.


It is a sign that says more or less ... to take care and keep a nice ambiance, show your education level and don't throw trash. All around the sign was trash on the ground. Too funny! Got to love Cozumel. Maybe the trash throwers speak Mayan, instead of Spanish. :)

Family Lunch on Cozumel

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went to lunch at my sister-in-law's house. I brought along my new camera to try out the panoramic view.  The above photo was everybody eating lunch, taken here on Cozumel. I think the photo came out good, but I have a lot of practicing with my new camera ahead of me.

The Magic of Design Showroom

Cemera rattan sofa from Pelican Reef

Ashley Cross Island desk and Hillsdale stool

Coaster table & stools

Going down memory lane, I came across some photos of our store, The Magic of Design, that I want to share with our readers. We have been providing interior design services to Cozumel since 2003. We opened our first showroom in February of 2005 in the old house at 10 and 11. In 2007, we moved to our current location. In 2008, we expanded our showroom. 

Coaster dining set

Having a thriving furniture business in Cozumel is tricky. Cozumel is an island, therefore not a lot of people want to invest a ton of money in their furniture, as if they leave, they normally cannot take the furniture with them. We are pleased to still be around, able to provide good quality product and service to the island. Thanks to all of our wonderful customers!

Update - We have had a brisk few weeks in the store. Every person who came in and bought from us is a repeat customer. That really makes me happy as it means we are doing something right. Thanks to our clients, and thanks to our staff to make it all possible.

Driving in Cozumel: Be Careful

This has been a very sad time in Cozumel. Locals and ex-pats feel so bad about the accident that took the life of Val Robichaux, the retired physician from Colorado who was killed while bicycling. More information on this accident can be found here. This CNN report was written by the son of the man who died. I would like to send our heartfelt condolences.


People die all the time on the streets of Cozumel, not just cyclists. People on mopeds, tricycles, even walking ... in cars and trucks. It is a tricky place to drive. In the downtown area, the houses are so close to the corners, it is hard to see around. And many, often taxi drivers, merge way out into the intersection to view the cars. My heart stops at least once a day when I think somebody is going to barrel in to me at a stop sign. They have the stop and I don't but sometimes I slam on the brakes. 


Another pet peeve of mine is the "Cozumel right turn." Whether on a moped or a bicycle, the driver will go ahead and turn right when they have a stop and try to squeeze on to the shoulder, even as I am driving straight. No stop at all. And don't even get me started on the buses. One today on the highway returning from Residencias Reef (km. 13 approx.) passed our car after hugging our bumper for a while, then passed another car, then passed a truck with oncoming traffic coming at it. The bus driver swerved to the right to avoid the oncoming car, forcing the truck on to the shoulder of the road. Another near miss, but all I can say is that bus driver is just "an accident waiting to happen."


I would love to hear solutions to our traffic issues. What works? Laws being enforced perhaps, for one. What else? I would love to hear everyone's input, and again our prayers to the family of Val Robichaux.

Another Blast from the Past

I came across two photos I could not resist posting. One is of Moises and me at Versailles with our then state-of-the-art Sony camera. It took those little hard disks, before the floppy disks. Hard to believe that was only ten years ago ... 2002.

The other photo was taken by my mother-in-law, Daisy, when she and I went on an Eastern Caribbean cruise. This photo was taken in San Juan, Puerto Rico ... Jan 2003.

The Magic of Design: Parking Lot Madness

Plaza where our store is located on March 30, 2012

Today was the last legal day to pay the fees for license plates in Cozumel. I feel the government is very generous as they allow us a three month leeway to get our license fees paid. They are due in January, but the police do not begin to fine motorists until after the end of March. I think this year is the worst ever, even though the fees ranged less than $20 usd for the mopeds and less than $30 usd for the cars. 

Our store sign is located above the staircase with doors covered with people

The entrance to our store became a mob scene late in the day and the police even came by. Not anything of a violent nature or anything. Just people speaking loudly and playing music, a lot of trash being thrown around and people loitering everywhere. Who would want to wait for this? We paid our fees  on 4 vehicles in January. It appeared to be more individuals than businesses these last 3 days.


I swear every year we will close next year for these couple of days.