Last & First Days of the Year...

Here's a wish of hope to all my friends...the new year brings with it a lot of new things for everyone...let us stand firm on the idea that we can all step up to the plate and do our part when it is time...  

Luis Valderas @ The Institute of Texas Cultures

...The postcard is ready for my solo exhibit at The Institute of Texas Cultures...The show will feature the acrylic inlayed woodcut plate~El Sur Pacific-1945~ It is the first time this piece will be displayed for the public to see since it was used to print in the StoneMetal Press Steam Roller printing event held in the spring of 2007 at the Blue Star Arts Complex parking lot...If you're in San Antonio, I hope to see you all there...

No rest for the artists, even on Sundays...

Sunday after taking care of a few things I stopped by to visit my friends—Rolando Briseno and Angel Rodriguez-Diaz. Angel has just finished a public piece that will be inaugurated and lit today as part of the Public Arts in San Antonio projects—this is all part of the public improvement plan that began in 2007. Angel designed a giant luminaria obelisk that is located in the center of a roundabout at the intersection of Blanco and Fresno...One of the last things that needed to be done was to repaint the base which was targeted by graffiti. I went along and helped out and took pictures of this...If you are in town—SATX—the event begins at 5:30pm today(Monday). I hope to see you all there...

Pearl Harbor Day

Today was Pearl Harbor Day, so I decided that it was a good to do something important since it was such a charged day...

Winter has been making its presence known and there have been these amazing skies recently—today was one of those days and I decided to take advantage of it and I went downtown to gather some video  footage for my upcoming-in March 2009-Luminaria Video Installation...I drove by the Public Library and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the place with such a beautiful sky around it...wait till you see the video installation..

My show at the Institute of Texan Cultures is up and showing...the official opening for that exhibit will be some time in January 2009...I will update with links as new info and PR is released...hope to see everyone who can make it at the opening... my next show is the "Reina del Cielo Exhibit at Centro Cultural Aztlan on December 12th...

1eagle-1eagle...a day of thanks

I traveled down to El Valley on Thanksgiving morning and then rolled back to SATX the next morning...took a few pictures along the way and I will be putting some of the up soon along with some inspired thoughts, poetry and musings...its easy to see things when you stop and look...I took this photo between Alice and Premont Texas...

Malaquias Montoya visits and presents at UTSA

Malaquias Montoya came into town this weekend. He is visiting town for a week in conjunction with the Serie Project Quinceaneara and Annual Consejo Grafico Conference to be held in Austin. The conference will also have exhibit events a The MACC in Austin, MexicArte Museum, UTSA Downtown Gallery, El Museo Alameda in San Antonio. Malaquias will be speaking at Dr Helen Riojas-Clark's class on wednesday evening...It would be a great chance to hear him speak, since he does not come to San Antonio too often.

A small group of artists in San Antonio was brought together by University of Texas-San Antonio President Dr. Ricardo Romo to honor Malaquias for his contribution to Chicana/o Art History. Malaquias Montoya is one of the founders of the Royal Chicano Air Force based out of Sacramento California. This group was one of the first Chicano activist artist groups that were founded during the begining of the Movement...Malaquias Montoya has triumphed the fight against the death penalty...More pix coming soon...

Visit by TAEA Group and Roland Mazuka

The Texas Art Educator Association Conference was held in San Antonio this past weekend. Art educators from all over Texas came into San Antonio Friday and Saturday. There was a number of workshops and presentation that were organized. One of these events was a studio tour of San Antonio's premier artists led by Blue Star Contemporary Art Center Assistant Director-Roland Mazuka. Roland asked if I would open up my studio to a group of visitors from this conference. I welcomed this group of art educators(from San Antonio, Houston area, Dallas, Corpus Christi...) and had a wonderful discussion about what I'm up to and what inspired me to do what I do... more pix coming soon

Making El Sur Pacific...the inlayed woodcut

So I have been working on inlaying the woodcut that I printed for the 2nd year of the Stone Metal Press Steam Roller Print event that has been held for the past three years at the Blue Star Arts Complex parking lot. This inlayed woodcut will be part of an upcoming solo exhibit that I will have at the Institute of Texan Cultures(ITC) tentativly sheduled to go up at the end of this month.  The title of this piece is El Sur Pacific—1945. I created this piece based on one of the many stories that my father would tell us about his time spent in the south Pacific during WWII. My father served in the south Pacific theater during WWII. He was drafted when he was 33 and like many mexicanos he was probably segregated but never mentioned it to us in his stories. The only glimpse at the different ethnicities that he was surrounded by was his mention of a Polish cook, an Italian catholic priest, and a Phillipino native that were his friends...

He had met his Phillipino friend when he got to the Phillipines. My father would tell us cuentos about how his Phillipino friend had been orphaned and grown up in the wild then later was befriended and civilized by catholic missionaries...eventually when the war came around his friend became a scout for the U.S. Army. His friend was so agile and adept to the jungle that he could climb a palm tree as fast as a man could run on the ground.

My father, Horacio, was assigned night duty at an army hospital ward and would often see his Phillipino friend leaving the camp on night recon missions "encuerado!"—naked, with nothing but a loincloth and knife on him. The next day would arrive and his friend would be walking back into camp covered in blood from the night before—the

 recon missions were into the Japanese tunnels that were hidden all over the islands, my father would say, where some brutal hand-to-hand fighting would occur.

So after their tour of duty was finished they were shipped back to the United States.  The cuento goes—We were in this big hospital ship on our way back to San Francisco and we got caught in a storm. It was a typhoon that tossed and turned the enormous ship around like a little toy. "We were like abas en una cubetta(beans in a bucket), at the mercy of this typhoon." The chambers of the ship had been shut and locked for bouyancy.

They could feel their eardrums pop whenever the ship went underwater, overwhelmed by mountainous waves battering the hull, only to resurface because of the closed chambers...

Eventually the hospital ship lost power and steering , the storm was taking its toll. The ship could be cracked open at any moment by the terrible typhoon. its precious  cargo spinkled into the shark infested South Pacific. It was at this moment that Horacio's friend looked at him and asked, "Horacio, tienes miedo?—are you scared?—I can only imagine my father's response at that moment which in turn got some words of wisdom from his friend. "Horacio, don't be afraid, if this were to be our day to die, you and I could be drinking coffee together and we would still die. Go to sleep now, rest, tomorrow will be another day."

My father said that his friend then handed him a rope so that they could tie themselves down to the stanchions below deck and not be thrown around like beans in a bucket. The terrified looks that they got from their shipmates were piercing, "They must have thought we lost our minds—we would go down with the ship if it sank! But instead, we both went to sleep." I think the moment of clarity served to remind my father of the warrior spirit and way—not to live in fear of our eventual death, but instead, to embrace and accept it as part of or wonderful life.

The next day, so the cuento goes, the storm had passed and the hospital ship was adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean surrounded by friendlies—U.S. fighter aircraft above and U.S. destroyer escorts and submarines below. "The sunrise never felt so beautiful," but the looks that they got from their shipmates were another story, "se hacillan ah un lado para que pacaramos y nos miraban en silencio.—they stepped aside quietly and glared in disbelief as we walked by"....Was this grace under pressure, faith or loqura-a foolish bravado in the face of impending death?...You decide, but I think it was acceptance and a release of attachment to all matters of a worldly nature.

My brothers and I have heard that story countless times and it always evoked images in my mind as I listened to my father telling it. The hospital ship being tossed around, the feel of their eardrums popping as the ship was overwhelmed by waves and ocean, the shark infested waters of the South Pacific, the epiphany in the hull of a warship caught in a storm...

1 water 4 grass

WOW!!!! Obama won!!!!...

....there's a big wind of change blowing in...hearing the masses booing at the mention of the new president elect during the McCain concession speech was scary but real....what a great time to be alive....this has truly been a millennium begun with a decade of change....

So...we're in the middle of a historic event...I had a few thoughts that I want to record as they occur...I decided to re-visit a little bit of the past and found a video of Noam Chomsky back in 2000-something talking about the American(U.S.) political system... So...the idea that america can be controlled into participating in the selection of the next president on this day is to some point being reframed...the masses need to be taken care of...it's the economy now, and greedy speculation has driven it into a drop that hasn't been seen since the 30's...this really hurt too many people. Considering all the conflicts going on in the world,  I feel that globally, some power structures are about to be challenged tonight...the day dictates this... 

Dia de Los Muertos Evening @ Centro Cultural Aztlán

...the altar for my hefito-finally set up...I think he would have been bashfully flattered and then he would have asked me to take it down, ya de viejito—94...he wasn't too much into ceremonial flourish...my hefito was pretty humble and did not consider how much of hero figure that he was to my brothers, sister and mother...his cuentos did it—they made us cosmic travelers, to far off lands and different times...keeping a very personal link to these place with all of the main characters being our very own great-great-grand parents and great-grand aunts and uncles...So when I set up his Dia de Los Muertos Altar, it its always with the idea of being able to tell his story to all so that he can continue to touch people...

This year the evening at Centro Cultural Aztlan was well attended for a Sunday night...Aztlan has always held the event on the actual day unlike other organizations around San Antonio. 

This year the entire city had so many Dia de Los Muertos events but I would have to say that the celebration to be at is Aztlan's evening...

I would say that there were about 400+ people in attendance! It was truly a much larger event than the previous year...The altares that were on display ranged from traditional to non-traditional. 

When I set mine up, I always create a different installation...usually I follow a non-traditional

 arrangement that has aspects of a traditional arrangement. I find that this allows me to tell my hefito's story... pictured is an altar by Ricky Amendariz and another by Sylvia Saldana-Sanchez and sister. These two are an example of the varied style and personal touches that each individual artist conveyed and presented to the community in their altares...I feel that Whenever an altar is set up,  the artist is sharing with the community...

 the stories of each and every loved ones and then beyond that also presenting images of a shared identity as Mexican-Americans...like a reaffirmation of what links us together...Interestingly the newly appionted  Mexican Deputy Consul of San Antonio-Enrique Romero Moreno(who is also a writer) and his wife showed up showed up for the evening...He was impressed and reminded of home...

The end of the evening saw the Carnaval de los Muertos by the Urban-15 dance group led by Kat Cisneros...they have been performing in the San Antonio art scene since 74...and just recently moved to their new building located on South Presa...

Dia De Los Muertos Altar for my Hefito...

Today I am setting up the altar for my dad...for the Dia De Los Muertos celebration at Centro Cultural Aztlan on Sunday...It will be six years since my hefito left on his next journey...I will be back with more soon....there are a number of Dia de Los Muertos activities happening around San Antonio...you can view a good number of the listings at the  sacalaveras.com events calendar. Update...here is a preview of the altar...it is ready for the final items like fresh fruit, Dia de los Muertos bread, favorite foods, vegeteables, fresh tortillas, tamales, atillito, dulcecitos, and all the other cositas that my hefito liked...There are also other items that are placed on the altar, personal belongings of the loved one like books-my father had a large collection of books that he read-most of them were for reference except for his bible in which he took notes and most of them he got rid of so these few books are what remained, tools-he had so many really old ones too, and special things in the case of my father-his big cup for his daily atolito de abenita... tonight the evening at Centro Cultural Aztlan will be festive and nostalgic one...I hope to see everyone there... 

While I was setting up the altar for my father I had a few visitors...Raul and the vatos locos from Sabor Kolombia, were in town shooting a video and they were across the street eating lunch. They heard about our Dia De Los Muertos celebration that was going to take place in the evening, since they were going to be busy they wanted to stop by and look at all the alters that were set up and ready for the evening festivities

...Also visiting before the event was Prof. Rosita Harper from The University of Findlay in Ohio...she had found out about the event and a workshop that I was presenting at Centro Cultural Aztlan for the Dia De Los Muertos pre-weekend activities and came to visit for the evening events...It is always a pleasure to talk to people while I am installing my altar to my father...I find that it allows me to tell the stories that are held within all the items I place on his altar. That, I am sure, would make him happy...

Rudy's Visit....

My brother Rudy came through town on his way to Laredo...I had a chance to catch up with him...Rudy is an independent truck driver. He drives loads of produce from the Rio Grande Valley to the east coast mostly, after which he waits for loads that need to go from the east coast to other parts of the country. Sometimes he'll spend as much as three weeks on the road driving from dock to dock. Upstate NY, NYC, Virginia,D.C., Baltimore, Boston, Philly , to name a few places...then sometimes cross country from there...all the way to the west coast....I've been working on some studies of photographs, drawings and paintings based on his story...more later...

Things @ Twilight...

Sometimes all it take is a quick look around to see the dialogue between the earth and the sky...in this case it occurred at sunset and carries on with a marked ambiguity that should make you look twice...I took this pic on my way to the studio...it reminded me of a beautiful evening on a South Tejas coast...

Been working at the studio alot...I've got a show coming up at the end of November at the Institute of Texan Cultures and there is a Dia de Los Muertos exhibit that I am preparing to create an altar for...

Getting Ready for a Studio Visit

Today I will be having a studio visit to select the works that will be in an exhibit at the Institute of Texan Cultures-SATX...this exhibit will be up for six months...I will make sure that I post the opening event date...

Arte Chicano Discussion @ Gallista Gallery

This event was held in order to preview the new CD/DVD for the Latina/o Arts Community that the Hispanic Research Center out of Arizona State University is producing. They are known for the Chicano Art History books-Triumph in Our Communities and Chicano Art for Our Millennium. The majority of the San Antonio a

rtists that are in these books work out of and are associated with Gallista Gallery. 

I had a studio at Gallista Gallery for about seven years, but needed a larger place so I moved two buildings down the street at 116 Lone Star which is right around the corner.  The Event was well attended and there were copies of the books available for sale. Quite a number of the artist were available to sign copies of the books and there was a short question/answer session shortly after the presentation.

Arturo Almeida, Dr. Ricardo Romo, and artist Jesus Chista Cantu

Dr. Gary Keller, Ernesto Ancira and wife

1house-7water

I thought that this image would be fitting for the very first pic in my blog...intzalan is the place in between...what better description of the present...I welcome all my friends to this place...I will posting pix, poetry, video, etc. of what I am up to in the art scene in San Antonio...