The artists
Greg Dietrich and Liliana Macotela are husband and wife and share a studio and gallery in downtown Cozumel: he works in blown glass, engraving and silk painting; Liliana paints in various techniques and makes handmade journals and embroidery.
Greg Dietrich
Cameo engraved glass, paintings on silk
Born 1958, U.S.A.
Greg Dietrich has been blowing and engraving glass since 1990. It is not only his livelihood, but it is a passion for him. His first 5 years or so were years he spent taking classes in both the glassblowing studio as well as engraving to find the best way to make the glass that he wants to engrave, and how he wants to engrave it. The details he can achieve using a technique called cameo engraving has become his main avenue. Now, he is the one giving those classes to younger artists that share the love of working the glass both hot and cold.
In 1998, he was living in the thick of the glass world in Seattle, Washington, working with many renowned glass artists in the area. However, his life took a twist when he met his wife while on vacation and changed it all up by moving to Cozumel, Mexico to continue his life with her.
In the year 2000, he opened his engraving studio to the public as a working art studio/gallery in Cozumel called Galería Azul. He has had various solo exhibitions in different places in Mexico, and often participates in collective shows in the United States and Europe. Galería Azul is still open to this day, where you can find him either engraving glass or painting on silk…another form of artwork he picked up along the way.
Liliana Macotela
Silk painting and other techniques, embroidery and handmade journals
Born in Hidalgo, Mexico, she has lived on the island of Cozumel since 1997. A journalist by profession, she served for several years as a correspondent for newspapers in southeastern Mexico. Concurrently, she became involved in cultural outreach activities in Cozumel. In 2003, she founded the civil association Círculo Cultural Arcano, through which she organized the Festival Otoño Cultural Cozumel for nearly a decade. Since 2022, she has run the "Art for Happy Children" Program, providing free painting and drawing classes to local children.
Her love of art and her life with artist Greg Dietrich inspired her to venture into the visual arts; she began by teaching herself the art of painting on silk.
She is also an avid photographer, a passion that led to two solo exhibitions — most notably one held in 2011 at the Cozumel Island Museum. In 2013, she founded Promotora Isla Maya, a space where she has since offered courses, workshops, and artistic and cultural activities for the Cozumel community.
In 2016, she published a poetry collection titled "El abrazo del fuego" (The Embrace of Fire), and during the pandemic in 2022, she created a digital poetry anthology titled "Historias de encierro" (Stories of Confinement). For over 20 years, Liliana Macotela has independently promoted culture in Cozumel while continuing to explore various artistic techniques. She paints, draws, creates linocuts, produces colorful embroidered artworks, and crafts handmade notebooks.
