This Week's Special!!!

Very intricate original hand woven tapestry. Pre-Hispanic image possibly representing the reincarnation of a royal child representing a diety. Note that the image is speaking. Rich ribbon colors in colorfast acrylics, cotton and metalics on national warm warp. Penecilla and border in purple and white. This is a large 3 by 3 foot piece that was originally 4,500 pesos -- this week's special, 2,500 pesos.

Aztec Art Studios on the lateral of the main highway at Calle Rio Bravo, 1 mile west of Ajijic. We're open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday.

ART TALK by Janice Kimball

"What is the price of that painting?", she asked me as her husband and I held it up on their living room wall. I was blindsided, just stood there balanced on a chair, it seemed like forever, as they looked up inquiringly. I had never before been asked "the price" for one of my paintings, although I certainly put "prices" on my work. The words have always been "How much," like; "How much is that doggie in the window, the one with the waggly tail?" Not like, "What is the price of that doggie," as if he was stuffed.

As she smiled anxiously and he good naturedly tottered with his half of the heavy painting, this is what went on in my mind. It is a very good painting, yet one from an earlier series. I was budgeting to have professionally over framed, so I can save money by not having to do that. I built our studio with no closets, and now the good-sized storage room is Francisco's bedroom so not having to store this painting would help the crunch. This painting is oversized and does not stack well with the others; it is also just a little too heavy for me to lift and I hate asking for help. This is a couple on a budget decorating their new nest; they are very sociable and enthusiastic, and if they buy the painting, my work will be out there, getting exposure. This was the painting she loved when she first saw it in the gallery and the colors work perfectly in their home. I want to give them the lowest price possible on this painting.

So, what is the lowest price? If you are to be respected as a serious artist you can't go below a certain price line when selling your work. This was the price I was trying to establish in my head as I stood there. How would I feel about another established artist selling a mature painting of this size for below this price. Will selling at this price devaluate quality art that already has incredibly low south of the border prices? I looked at the piece I was holding through the eyes of another artist. At what price could I sell it and still maintain their respect as an artist?

The price of a piece of art is completely separate from its value. You cannot put a price on something intangible unless it ha been made into a product. For example, what price would you put on listening to a bird's song, or on that painting that captured a feeling, a concept, that spoke to you, that was created, not one of many on an art studio assembly line, but only this one time?

There is no way I could ever be truly adequately paid for my art, for each piece is a creation of a lifetime. I do not even expect to receive any sort of fair hourly compensation.

I have earned my living consulting and teaching art, but selling what I create has never supported me. Never in a life without the connections to become a star; it has to be that way, or I would just be painting commercially - making saleable products.

Ask Janice for bargain prices on hand-woven pre-Hispanic tapestries through August at Aztec Studios on the lateral of the main highway at Calle Rio Bravo, 1 mile west of Ajijic. We're open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

ART TALK by Janice Kimball

I hate the connection at the Dallas airport so much that I only visit my family in Detroit every few years. I thought I would have a stroke the last time I hefted heavy suitcases off the conveyor belt and raced to customs in order to make my connecting flight. I swore I would never, ever check baggage again. My lust for American-bought art materials, however, has pre-empted that solution.

I have since developed a system that works for me. I bought a huge wheeled-duffle bag and put my empty regular suitcase inside of it for the trip to Detroit. Since they are both empty, I can pull them alng with the cords of the duffle bag as I make my was through customs. I cram the personal clothing and toiletries that are essential for my trip into my carryon bag.

On the flight home to Guadalajara, my luggage will be checked straight through. My carryon will contain 20 pounds of art books (yes, the wheels of my carryon are getting wobbly). The duffle bag will be full of novelty yarns not available in Mexico. They'll be used to create even more exciting tapestries woven on the Spanish colonial looms at Aztec Studios. The suitcae I'll fill with new painting mediums and colors available in the United States, along with exciting pastel sticks sandwiched between the clothes I originally had in my carryon.

Starting a year before my trip, I get so excited making lists of the art materials I'll purchase that it sometimes eclipses thoughts of reunion with my family. What does that say about me as an artist? Nothing, but it sure says a lot about my compulsion. Remember the old axiom, "Do as I say, not as I do"? Well, that certainly applies here.

The reality is that as we grow as artists, our work also grows. If the work is not growing, it is because the artist is not growing. Yes, we will create work that is ever more exciting when I return from the states, but it is not the materials I bring back that causes that. It would naturally happen anyway, artists build on what we learned from our previous work. This is what separates art from craft.

With craft the execution gets finer with time, although the ideas remain the same. With the purchase of yet more and varied materials, we are addressing the issue of execution, not ideas. The ideas separate the sheep from the goats in fine art; they are far more elastic and are infinite in the act of creation.

It is useless to wait to accumulate the right materials in order to create. Creation is done with the mind. It does not even need a product, however the product is validation. As a metaphor, visualize standing in front of a sunset painting and experience that mood; standing in front of a real sunset gives validation. It is something that can be shared.

Communication and validation is what innately inspires an artist to create a product. The assumed need to acquire the latest materials is therefore, I believe, largely cultural. If you come from a culture whose wheels are driven by its humans' need for acquisition, try to set that aside. Create today by what is available here, what can be bought at the local stationary or hardware stores, or hopefully well-stocked art supply store.

Believe me when I tell you, anything more is for your own aesthetic enjoyment. It will not make you a better artist.

Fantastic Price Reduction to our Friends

Our friend, Gatito Elliot recommends that you get a running start on the sale of the Pre-Hispanic tapestries that were on display at Lake Chapala Society this spring.

Francisco, Max Bird and I would love to show them to you and share the great prices.

Gentle Tidings

He sat at the entrance smoking, sorting out his mind in peaceful ways as new spring freshness fills the air. My son is on vacation from a Detroit group home for Veterans who had faltered. His most profound memory from visiting his mom is how each Mexican greeted him as they passed by on the lateral in front of our gallery.

Back home he is not observed smoking on the group home's back porch by those whose property values consume them.

God bless Mexico and God bless my friends who live in this highland sierras of eternal spring where my son can come and experience the warmth of being equal in a land of gentle tidings.