Artist in Residence

It started with a lake in Mexico. Now add wildlife. A pallet knife. An affinity for eye popping color. Never ending inspirations and creativity. His work is prominently displayed at Show of Hands in Cherry Creek. We were thrilled to get acquainted with Arturo Garcia. Now it’s your turn with our Artist in Residence

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Where did you grow up? Between Lake Chapala, Mexico, and Denver.

What or who first inspired you to get into art? And what type of art started it all for you? Lake Chapala is an artist community. I grew up with art as part of life. When I was about 10, I started attending classes at a place called Casa de la Cultura, where they allowed kids to come create with all the freedom needed to make art without anyone telling you that you had to do things a certain way. That was the best part. They gave us freedom to create. I would paint from the time they opened at 10:00 am until the instructors had to tell me it was time to leave.

Arturo Garcia talks about his fascination with painting the American bison as the painter takes a break from creating other works as part of an exhibition at the art museum in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Where did your love for wildlife and animals originate? Probably from the environment growing up at Lake Chapala. I used to spend my summers in a small island on the lake, spending half of my time in the water and the other half in trees, in constant contact with nature and wildlife. The outdoors and wildlife were part of my life growing up.

Why a pallet knife? Stubbornness…ha! Trying to paint with pallet knives was the biggest challenge for me, and it threw me off the painting plateau on more than one occasion. I loved the texture, the relief, the three-dimensional feel, and the effect produced by the bold strokes of the knife. I once saw a painting in a magazine of a boat at a dock done with palette knives and I fell in love with it. So, I tried to imitate that painting for years with much disappointment. And then, one day, after painting myself to sleep, I woke up at awe, asking myself: “Did I paint that?” It was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. That painting gave me the confidence I needed to cultivate that craft which I continue to do in every painting.

I’ve seen your work include everything from rainbow zebras, watermelon, and birds, to Ray Charles, Elton John, and Jim Morrison. It appears you’re inspired by a lot of different subject matter, and you just follow your instincts. Is this correct? Walk us through your inspirations. Great question. I see freedom in art. I believe creativity to be limitless. Making art is both an act of the intellect but also of the spirit, and neither of those are to be conditioned. In a lifetime of painting, I have been attracted to different things, and I like working with what I’m feeling at the moment, whether it is music, books, or nature. If I want to paint portraits of my favorite painters, for example, I add to the intent things that will stimulate the creative process. When I painted the collection Art Masters, which included painters like Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, and Michael Angelo, I added to the project, as a motivating catalyst, the idea of bringing the collection to public schools and libraries, so kids would be inspired to know more about the painters, and perhaps be inspired to give painting a try. It worked! The collection ended up touring many public schools and libraries in Denver and nearby cities. I did the same with Literary Giants and with Tatanka: The Spirit of the Land, a visual story about the American Buffalo.

What’s something about the art industry that most people don’t know? The art industry is ambiguous. It can be as abstract as art itself. I can speak both as an artist and as gallery owner. It is hard. However, I feel lucky to live in this city, where there is a genuine appreciation for art and many support it with sensibility. It is thanks to that consciousness that some of us can continue to create and sometimes make a career from it. But there are many elements involved. Sometimes people ask me how long it takes me to make a painting. When I say six hours, for example, I can tell they try to equate time with cost, and it doesn’t really work that way as the truth behind the answer is that it takes a lifetime of painting to get to create a painting in six hours. Gallery owners deal with similar things. The cost of a painting at a gallery sometimes does not come close to the real cost when you add up gallery rent, hours of work tending the show spaces, publicity costs, and, on top of that, the actual time it can take for a painting to sell off the wall. So, a commission of 35 percent to 50 percent although it seems high, it really isn’t sometimes enough to cover all the overhead behind when you consider the time it can take to sell.

You work with Katie Friedland at Show of Hands in Cherry Creek. Talk about that partnership, and your impression of the art scene in Cherry Creek. I love Cherry Creek. It is unique and authentic in its own right. I met Katie about 10 years ago and have had my art at her store for that long, through three different store locations. She is one of the hardest-working women I have ever met. She is a fighter, and I respect that so much about her. Many don’t know this, but in her unique way, she is a social activist, always striving to improve the world and the people in it through voicing out what’s right, making her place available for dozens of artists to have an outlet for their work and supporting small businesses. She is a hub for many artists and artisans as well as an inspiration of hard work.

Most unforgettable moment as an artist? Any time kids are involved whether at a school setting or at the workshops that I offer for free at my studio, art becomes meaningful, almost vital. We live at ridiculous fast paces and don’t give time its real value. Kids are a good reminder of the power of the present moment. When I see them at awe with one of my paintings, or wanting to know more about making art, the vocation suddenly takes on a new meaning. Kids are always a learning source for me. They show me the value of art in ways we, who do this for a living, tend to forget.

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Featured Image: Winter Dance. 24″X30″. Available. Oil