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Untitled by DeLaTorre



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I hope every one had a very merry baby Jesus day. I am here trying to remember the very hot and humid summer and thinking of how as mariposa put it was a "long fast year" I met a lot of new friends and accomplished many of my goals.

Here is a pic of the kids from Columbia Explorer Elementary School working on the mural for the school that will be ready in the spring of 2008.

It was a very good time for all of us talk about energy the kids spent six hours at the studio and they left tired I had them busy for the whole day. It was great to hear the principal say that the experience left a impression on the kids.

Have a great two thousand and eight every one! and stay thirsty

Merry Christmas "PottersVille"

I hope every one is having a fabulous Christmas, and you all are enjoying time with your family and friends and have a great start to 2008.

Stay thirsty every my friends, stay thirsty!

"laVirgin de los Planes y Tanks

Take a look at this:
http://www.artbreak.com/work/show/7565-la-virgin-de-planes-y-tanks-delatorre

Holiday Parties

Well the "holidays" are upon us and isn't great that this is the time of year that people have the inclination to be warm and friendly when the rest of year they're all about themselves. I'm not saying that every one is like that in fact the majority of people I call friends are very open people who are very supportive at all times but for some reason its always this time of year when I get calls from people who have there heads in the sand all year then all of sudden "you must come to my party" and "where have YOU been all year" holy shit man I must have called these people at least twenty times through the year and not returned call. Well happy holidays to all and remember if you see me at some holiday party acting obnoxious its only me being me, oh now I remember why people don't return my calls during the year!

Trying to crunch the numbers

Hey so I am trying to figure out my budget for the next year and of course how to fund the
budget. This is what I came up with if I produce one small painting a day and post it on sites
like this blog and then people can purchase an original painting for as little as one hundred
and fifty dollars that would definitively cover some of the budget so thats part of the plan I'm still
working on the rest.

Starting the networking

My concept of posting up my work seems to working well I have placed it on a few websites and am getting a very nice response. I would love to see some sales but for now it is what it is I know eventually they will start moving until then I will be in the studio painting.

I am also starting to envision the work for "Dreamlandia" I am getting excited about the piece and the production will be a lot of fun.

So here is my painting a day Hope you all enjoy it and let me know what you think.

"Dreamlandia" and other stuff

Well here I am writing about how I am spending my time, I had a great lunch with some friends and one them asked what my plans were for my future shows WOW what a loaded question first of all I am done collaborating with anyone who can't be open, second I am ready to go for the New York market my goal is to get an exhibit in NY so for the next few months I am gong to working like a crazy man.
In the mean time "Dreamlandia" is coming so be prepared.

Well two days of blogging , Its been a crazy week last Sunday I was contemplating our existence then our plumbing goes down nothing like pipes breaking to bring you back to reality.

Getting back to studio was great for me its been a couple of days and I'm fighting a cold but its good to be able to loose myself for a while. I am trying to find ways to get my work out there and I was convinced to start a Myspace page and have set up posts on various websites so I'll see whats working in the next couple of months.

Thats enough for today I'm going back to playing with the infamous spotted one, if anyone out there has any ideas about getting my work out there I would love to hear them.

Trying to get the work out there out there

I have been trying to get my work out there for the last few years and its been quite the adventure, The other day I attended a lecture entitled "get out of town".

Wow what a crock of shit there was a panel of four Chicago artist's talking about how they made it. Well their work was very unimpressive I'm a painter my visual sensibilities usually are very open but when you see some of the work thats making it well I really have to question the place we are in as a society.

Any way now that I know that I am taking the steps to get out there I feel much better, whatever that means. So my next step is to find a gallery I feel my work fits in and proceed to get drunk with the gallery owner and set up an exhibit. Thats how works according to the panel discussion.

More later I have to get back to the studio, oh also if anybody would like to checkout my new Myspace page (yes thats right I am trying to get the work out there by any means possible) you can link up through my page.

Veterans day memories of Casimiro Ostrowski

Hello every one I am back to writing and want to introduce everyone to Casimiro Ostrowski or Uncle Casey as everyone knew him. On this veterans day I think its important to remember the people who experienced the brutality of these episodes Casey was one of these people and I say was because he passed away this past week. Let me say first of all the relationship that my brothers and I had with Casey was a very simple one to us he was a father he took us in when we came to this country he really loved my mom and he accepted us as his family.

Saying this is very hard for me for various reasons but that is the reality of the situation. Casey would sit us down and tell us his war stories and how he always felt that no matter how difficult it was you always have to do what you believe is right whether it was going after a platoon of nazi soldiers with a hand full of grenades or follow your aspirations of being an artist.

He was a huge influence on me he instilled his work ethic (he worked as a machinist for 45 years and hardly missed a day) he would always tell me "if you want to become a painter then do what you need to do and paint". Well needless to say he will be missed but I know he will not be forgotten.

Hello every one I am back in Chicago and ready to get back to work in the studio. The exhibits went very Santa Fe was incredible I met a lot of great people I do want to thank the NMOMA and our good friend Betty for their generous support in making it possible and of course I really appreciate Mariposa Atomica for all her help.

The exhibit at Owings-Dewey was very well attended the gallery was alive with creativity I knew the gallery was well known but I wasn't aware how prestigious a place it is well thanks to Kelly Lyon for including me in the exhibit.

I also had a chance to visit a friend in Las Cruces, NM Carlos Estrado-Vega who is an excellent artist and a very centered person. I am probably going to spend some time with him during the winter to push my work to another level so will have a lot on my plate the next couple of years.

The Dia de Los Muertos exhibit for the Latino Arts inc. at the UCC in Milwaukee was even more fun this year Pando joined me and even though we were late to the opening people we knew were there expecting us and it was great to be able to say I am having a solo exhibit at the center.

Well I'm sure I'll have more to write about these experiences later but for now I am going to turn
my attention to "The Amazing Race" so enjoy some pic's.

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Well I had a great Wednesday I took a trip to Milwaukee to drop off the piece for the Dia de los Muertos exhibit and had a great meeting with the director she asked if I was ready for a solo exhibit
and of course in my mind I was saying I have been ready for the last two years but hey 2009 sounds great to me.

And I received word from the gallery in Santa Fe my piece has arrived safely and they are very pleased with the work and I am looking forward to see the whole show up in the gallery

In the the mean time we are participating in the Bridgeport Art Walk this coming Saturday from 12:00pm - 6:00pm it will be a fun event so I hope you all can make it.

Detail "Homage to Sgt. Mora"

October Artist Celebration

First of all I would like to thank every one that helped us have a very successful studio event special thanks to Manu and O.S. and of course D.P. also to Nuevo Leon Restaurant for their generous donation of delicious appetizers. I would post pic's from the event but the camera never had a chance to get out of the bag. I can say that even though the weather was sweltering we had a lot of guests and people seemed to be very comfortable hanging out which of course makes me very happy.

And now I am getting ready for Milwaukee and Santa Fe. I am almost done with the piece for
Milwaukee I have changed the content and have dedicated the Altar to the memory of Sgt. Omar
Mora who had the courage to speak out and question the policies of this administration and know he has perished. To me that speaks of the deterioration of the constitution of this country.

Well that is all I have say for now, here is something I have been working on.

More heat and hot coffee

I love the heat, I love hot coffee unfortunately the two don't mix and trying to force the issue well not a great idea.
Any way I'm back trying to write out my process I have started the piece for Milwaukee and it is going to be dedicated to Sgt. Omar Mora, I am really effected by his story and the circumstance of his life. When and how do stop this absurdness how do we as a society begin to understand that we are undermining the values that this country was founded on or was it all just talk.

More painting....

ABSTRACT GLOBAL COMMUNITIES

The exhibit at Neleh Galleries is set and it looks to be a good one I love the theme of the show
and it will be during Chicago Artist month, the building the gallery is housed in is very different as far as galleries go.

I was called by the Chicago department of Tourism to participate at the airport for their artist month program so I will need to go into performance mode for a couple of days. I have a lot of fun with peoples reactions to my work. what happens is that they have you painting in front of a crowd and as the work develops people really get involved with the piece some feel that they need to comment others kind of stand there with a look of ... well I don't really know what to call it. In any event it should be a fun time as always.

This new piece is part of the "virgin" series hope you all like it.

CREATING A "VIRGIN"

Here I am again back from the studio I have been through a sleep deprivation and trying to get work started for the exhibits in Milwaukee and Santa Fe and in the mean time the studio is about 116 degrees and seriously humid but some how I will focus and get the paintings going.

I have this concept for the altar in Milwaukee I am dedicating it to the Constitution of the USA I think its a challenging time right now not only for artist but for every citizen of this country. I want to see how people will approach the situation we are facing will we try to regroup and create a better place or will we continue on the destructive path we are on.

The image posted has it's beginning with the use of imagery to sway people. The common image of "la virgin" the established religion has used it to attract and persuade the masses to follow their institution and all that it stands for. I have been contemplating and creating my interpretations of these icons more on the whimsical level but still affecting me on the subconscious level.

more storms in the city

I hope everyone enjoyed the storms this week, there's nothing like nature dumping buckets of water down on you to humble us all. Above is a quick sketch of the storms rolling in from my studio window.

The work in the studio has been going kind of slow but I did manage to get all the material for the portraits finished and lay out the material for the mural . I think this week will be a more tolerable climate.

Back From the Jar

Ok I'm back to writing, I want to thank Dr. V for her comment. I'm happy to have any feed back about the works and projects that I am writing about. The last few days have been very productive in the studio this is the piece I finished today I also finished prepping the surfaces for some commissioned portraits I will be working on in the next couple of weeks that really are going to be fun to do the patrons are giving me "Cart Blanc" on creating the works.

I have to say one thing I would change about my studio has to be the heat WOW! I'm telling you even in the winter there is some solution I could put on an extra layer or even jump around and get warm but in the summer the heat is overwhelming I stand in one place and I wind up drenched in sweat its like being inside a jar and when I am applying gesso it gets very frustrating but enough about that on to the things I am thankful for this week.

One is the great gifts from Diana the pie was great as Comet can attest to and of course the "Power of Art " videos we're all hooked on them. And having my Mom bake me a cake and cooking a great dinner is always a great time.

painting a day

This is the thing, I am trying to do a painting a day at my studio some times I can get this done most of time it is difficult because of my other projects or things that need to get done.

most of the paintings for this project will be small some will be water color and of course others will be in oil the whole propose of this exercise is to be able to associate the images I have dreamnt the night before or the images I bring up during
my sleep deprivation cycle so here it goes and now I'm off to the studio to make gesso.

Hitting for the cycle

I don't know if credit is the new slavery system at this point of history but I have to say its a great start to indentured servitude I mean we all know the trap borrow now- pay later but how much will you be paying back and all terms are up to the creditors but enough of my complaints just look at how the subprime creditors have screwed up the home buying market
2 million families have now lost there homes to foreclosures and more than half of those are families of "color" how many of those families who were told that home ownership is the path to wealth and happiness will make it back to a position to buy there next home and how many will be forced to live in a sub par environment were the kids won't be able or want to focus there education and carry on the cycle of poverty but I guess as long as the US army is there to bail those kids out and discipline them, on to the path of good and righteousness we will all be
just fine .

Well I realize that it is a bit preachy so I will leave that alone and talk more about what I am working on at the studio, next time.

Deception of Credit

Well just as Al Pacino cryed out in Godfather 3 "just when I thought I was out they pull me right back in" that's how I feel today thank you AMEX!

more on this later!

Obviously Late To the Blog Party

Eat the hot dogs not the chicken! Said the note my brother left on the fridge door 13-years ago.

For two hours I stopped and pondered if this was a political message. I then realized that there were left overs from the BBQ my brother had gone to.

From then on I thought more about things people say and what's written between the lines.

It's all a matter of perspective and seeing that every person on this planet has a different perspective I have always attempted to see beyond the obvious.