Blast from the past

So when I first started painting I was deeply involved with the ‘Chicano Art’ scene. For those who are unfamiliar with ‘Chicano Art’ it is a genre of art that was sparked by racist galleries and museums in the 1970s’ refusing to display Latino art. Artists like Gronk, Carlos Almaraz, and Frank Romero stood up for their movement and protested, created, and hustled till they were recognized for who they were. Many times their art reflected the ‘Chicano Movement’ of the 1960s’. I loved it and still do to a degree. The bright colors and landscapes of ‘La Vida’ that I could instantly relate to. In a computer driven society where there is more information available to the mass public we get distracted with social networking and celebrity gossip. I have my share of hours on tumblr, facebook, hulu, netflix, and whatever else catches my short attention span for the day. Let’s just put it this way if those sites were a class I would have an A: not proud of it. So before the internet and before all those other sites I use to read a lot. Books that were 1000+ pages of just greatness. I drew off of inspiration and such. Mind people I was just starting to paint back then and treated my brushes and paint pretty rough.

           Whittier Blvd. is the heart of East Los Angeles and tend to be a subject that is reoccurring in some of my work. This is the first piece of art I ever did. I traced a picture from a dentist ad and sliced it out with an xacto. This what the result.

     This piece was for ‘Dia de Los Muertos’ and was displayed at ‘Self Help Graphics and Art’ back in 2002 or 2003. I can’t quiet remember. I had pictures of the event but they were lost in a epic computer crash in 2005.

     This was done just for fun. Before I knew what color theory was I explored it. I didn’t even know what a color wheel was. This was done with the left over paints from the ‘Dia de Los Muertos’ piece I did. I uses a ‘Patssi Valdez’ piece as inspiration.

    Keeping up with colorful pieces this was a secret heart I painted as a rocket. Representing the growth of love and passion.

      This was the first time I used oils. It is a heart with wing done on canvas back in 2005.

    Another piece I did for a ‘Dia de Los Muertos’ show in Pasadena back in 2003. I painted over what use to be a bar in the back ground.

    Another look at ‘Whittier Blvd’

What's in my pocket?