The Irreverent Artist - Self-Interview

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The Irreverent Artist

Self-Interview by Beatriz Socorro

Q. What nationality am I?

A. I have dual citizenship: Mexican/Venezuelan.

Q. What do I think of Chavez?

A. I used to be pro-Chavez until I went back to Venezuela and saw with my own eyes that he is nothing but a traitor and a fraud and even more corrupt than all the previous ones put together.

Thanks to Chavez now the poor are poorer. He must be paying a lot of petro-dollars to the Reuters and Associated Press reporters because the media is not saying the truth about him.

Q. For how long have I been an artist?

A. I´ve been an artist since my parents bought me the first coloring book and modelling clay.  Art has been part of my life ever since.

At age five, my parents took us to the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan and, at age nine, to the Vatican, the Louvre, El Escorial, among others. So, from a very young age I have been exposed to some of the great artists.

At age ten,  I started to receive formal art classes from Sister Celine of the Cross (Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary) while attending boarding school in Montreal, Canada.

For six years she taught us perspective, light and shadow, charcoal and clay sculpture.

At age twenty, I started to experiment with oils on my own.

Q. What artists have influenced me?

A. I developed a love for Museums, Galleries and Art Fairs. Throughout my life I have made sure to visit every Museum and Gallery in whatever country, city or town I happen to be in. It would be accurate to say that I have been influenced, in one way or another,  by every artist that I have been exposed to. From each, I have learned.

Q. How would I describe my style?

A. In the art world, they would perhaps describe some of my work as "fauvist". I, on the other hand, can only call it "expressionist". I can only paint when my spirit moves me.  If I try to paint or even draw when I´m not inspired, I can´t even draw a straight line. This is the honest truth.

I start a painting with a basic idea in mind but even I don´t know what the end result will be until it´s done nor do I know when it will be finished. This is one of the reasons I cannot do commission work.

As far as I am concerned, I don´t have a style nor do I wish to have one. I rather let the creative spirit in me do as it pleases, when it pleases and without rules or restrictions of any kind. To me, that´s what creativity is all about,  what art is all about.

Q.  I have an art instruction blog on the internet where I give free lessons and demonstrations of my work. How did this come about?

A. When I first arrived in Ajijic, I had the good fortune of meeting artist Diane Pearl. I asked her, as a newcomer, to give me some good advice and she generously did so.

One of her suggestions was to give art classes. I told her that I don´t have the patience to teach and that I also talk too much. We would not get any work done. But the idea kept turning in my mind and germinated into what is now this art blog.

Q. What advice would I give young artists?

A. Once, while pondering about the meaning and purpose of life and wondering why God would even want to create all this, questions were entering my mind:

Was God lonely? Did God create everything just to have some company?

An answer came into my mind: God created everything for only one reason: "For the love of it".

Whether this is right or wrong, to me it makes absolute sense:

"For no other reason than for the love of it!"

To young artists I would say, "Do it for no other reason than for the love of it. Let your creative spirit and imagination lead you where it wills. This is one place where you are totally free to be yourself and express yourself...a place without rules or limitations.

Be yourself!"