Coming To America

Another from the traced photograph series. The subject of immigration is an emotionally charged subject these days. This personal, historical perspective is presented in the hopes of adding a dimension for understanding.

Gentlemen

I’m trying something a little different to communicate more complex scenes with a minimalist view. This started with a line tracing of a famous photograph of three farmers on the way to a dance by August Sander. You can see other examples of this direction in the gallery.

Gordo

My first cousin twice removed, Gus Arriola, created the “Gordo” comic strip which ran in newspapers across the country from 1941 to 1985.
Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts, described Gordo as “probably the most beautifully drawn strip in the history of the business.” His work was also praised by the Mexican government as well as the California State Legislature for its promotion of international understanding.
He passed in 2008.
My brother and I got to visit him at his home studio in Carmel when we were kids. What an experience! We got to meet the inspiration for characters “Pepito” (his son, Carlin) and “Poosy Gato” (his cat, “Smelly Dave”) and he explained the process of creating a syndicated comic strip – I was transfixed .
Gus was an early influence on my art and on my life. Who remembers Gordo?

Love

Love, relationships, friendships are common themes for me – in fact, I’ve got a “Love” section in my gallery at www.jeffquiros.com. This one celebrates the strength in love … like mountains building on one another, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Beaming

Our native ability is infinitely more powerful than we commonly believe. Creating art is a channel to that realization for me.