Be the first on your block to have your very own boxed set of Neo Mimbreno notecards, not exactly authentic reproductions of traditional Mimbres pottery designs. Study the art of the ancient Mimbrenos and you will LOVE these wacky cultural artifacts of the future, the NeoMimbreno Designs; VW Bugs, Mudflap Ladies and Chihuahuas with sweaters, to name a few.

Hey, even if you have never heard of the ancient Mimbres Indians, these goofy note cards have merit all their own. Printed in black on 100% post consumer recycled ivory paper, you get a set of eight striking designs in an attractive gift box, with new designs hot off the press... Just $10.00 includes shipping and handling.        For order info

Mimbreno art receives ‘90s update from local artist

By Carla DeMarco for the Las Cruces Sun News  Thursday June 22, 1995

 Artist Lou McCall combines her wit with history and casts an anthropological eye toward the future in her original “Neo Mimbreno” designs.

Available in the form of limited edition prints, notecards, and Frisbees, they blend a satirical slant on traditional Mimbres Indian motifs with “artifacts” from the 20^th Century.

According to historical records, the Mimbres people (Mimbrenos) lived in four major river valleys – the San Francisco, the Upper Gila, the Mimbres and the Rio Grande – from about 200 A.D. until their mysterious disappearance around 1150.

They were the most artistically sophisticated sector of the Mogollon culture, which occupied the Southwest with the Anasazis and Hohokams. Initially hunters and gatherers, they eventually turned to farming.

During their last 150 years of existence, the Mimbrenos created stunning pottery embellished with characteristic designs that served to distinguish their culture from others.  They initially painted their pottery solely with geometric designs but eventually they added motifs that depicted animals, insects or people engaged in everyday activities of that time: a flute player, hunters, bears, a swarm of moths, three birds eating a lizard.      

McCall has chosen to portray contemporary life in the region’s style of 1,000 years ago.  “What will archaeologists of the future find when they excavate our culture?” she said. “VW Bugs, ’57 Chevies, telephones, Chihuahua sweaters…these are some of the 20^th century’s cultural artifacts.

Other ‘cultural icons’ she has illustrated “Mimbrenically” are mud flap ladies, chips and salsa, pickup trucks and the recycling symbol.

“Quite a few people have capitalized on the Mimbreno designs, “ she said. “They reprint them or paint them on pottery and then market them. I’m happy that he original designs are being recognized, but I wanted to do something innovative with them that would represent the complexity of life today.

“I’m making fun of our culture, in a way,” she said, “because I feel it’s pretty sad. We’re so into our ‘things’ that we often give them priority over people.

“Cars often take precedence over pedestrians, for example, and when the phone rings, we interrupt conversations to run and answer it. When the TV is on, our eyes are glued to it, and we ignore each other.

“When the Mimbrenos painted objects on pots, they immortalized them by saying, “This is an important part of my life.”

One of the things I’m showing is that we’re glorifying certain toxic aspects of our life – especially technological elements – that have run amuck; ‘tek runamuck’, I call it,” she said.

"I’m as addicted to these things as anyone else, but I also respect other ways of life, the Mimbrenos probably had a hard life, but I’m amazed that they could grow gardens, chisel flints, raise kids…and still have time to make exquisite pottery. They didn’t live to be very old.

“What prevents us from doing art today is overstimulation; there’s too much to experience. And I think our lives are going to become increasingly more complex in our continuing search for convenience,” she said.