New business cards

Loteria de los Muertos

I've played around with Loteria images in the past but decided to go back and do a series. This is one of my current projects. I am mixing some of my favorite Loteria cards with Dia de los Muertos themes, some will even have a bit of an Austin flare.

Loteria holds a special place in my heart as it was my Grandma's favorite activity. She lived in an assisted living community so she would have all of her little old lady neighbors over to play just about every day. I tried to play with them a few times but always had to bail out early. They played for money, got cut throat, and you just don't mess with an old Mexican lady's Loteria change... especially when she's waiting on her Social Security check.

My Grandma passed away last year and I still think about her all the time. In the last year's of her life Loteria became a huge part of my family's tradition. Any time we were all together with my grandma Loteria was the thing to do. During Grandma's birthday celebration or holidays when the whole extended family was together we'd break out the change and get our Loteria on. My family still carries on the tradition in remembrance of my grandma Teresa Gonzalez by getting together for Loteria. This June will be our second annual Family Day / Loteria Tournament... GAME ON!

This series is a tribute to my Grandma's memory.

First of the series: "El Borracho 25" 24" X 36" acrylic on canvas, tapestry thread, clay tag 

reference 

"El Corazon 27" 16" X 20" acrylic and tapestry thread on canvas

"El Pajaro 20"
16" X 20" acrylic on canvas. 3rd piece in series

The Flamingo King

I was on a flamingo kick for a while. Here's a piece I did for last year's OctoTea.

Archer Skelington

I'm working on a series of Day of the Dead Characters with painted skulls. There's more to come but Archer is the first of the series. They'll all be characters you are likely to see around Austin.

If you can't tell Archer is a "hipster" though he would never consider himself to be, much less acknowledge the term. You might see Archer hanging out with his trendy friends on the east side, drinking cold PBR's not enjoying popular music. You might have noticed his black rimmed glasses even though daisies sit where eyes use to be. Why should your vision needs, or lack of needs, stop him or any other hipster from sporting an expensive pair of thick rimmed glasses, with clear glass lenses? Even though his UO mosquito net scarf reeks of American Spirits and PBR spillage, the ladies still move in close to that sexy painted on mustache that took 2 months to fill in just right!

 

Sugar Skulls

So I'm really diggin Sculpey clay these days. I had some glow in the dark Sculpey left over from another project so I used it to make a small sugar skull piece. Did I mention it glows?

Sacred Hearts

I have always been a fan of religious art especially those depicting sacred hearts. In my work I tend to go back and forth and experiment with different themes, media, and techniques but I always go back to sacred hearts. They will probably continue to pop up here and there in my future work. Below are a few more recent hearts I've done but there will be more to come.

The last heart was a piece I donated to this year's Red Ribbon Social Event benefiting the Hill Country Ride for AIDS. I gave it another one of my favorite themes, Dia de los Muertos.