1.- "Fiesta" -and Final Part 3-

A journey through my 40 and something years in the art you will sees that I has to create very varied and contrasting topics. Sometimes sad topics, other cheerful, festive, of love, sensual or spiritual.

The festive topics were born in December of 1979 in Comerio, Puerto Rico, when I was spend the Christmas by invitation of my friend and classmate, the Puerto Rican Arnaldo Alicea and his wife.

In previous decades, it took place in Puerto Rico some of the most beautiful expressions of that country: The "Christmas assaults" with "Aguinaldos". During the Christmas, a group of friends or neighbors join late night or dawn and surprise one or several of the neighborhood homes with songs accompanied by the "cuatro" -four- (typical Puerto Rican guitar), Spanish guitar, "guiro", "maracas". . . Traditionally, the family opens the door and offers food and drinks to the recently arrived ones that stay in the house for some time singing, eating and drinking alcohol. During that Christmas of 1979 I participate in several of those "assaults" in the neighborhoods of "Piña Arriba" and "Piña Abajo" in the mountains of Comerio, Puerto Rico.

I like a lot the personality of the "traditional" Puerto Rican people, specially the one from the country side: Simple, kind, hospitable, helpful and disinterested.

I enjoy so much my Puerto Rico living in the mountains that, in the middle of a production of a sensual and sad topic ("Of the New and the Lasting, of the Sensual and Other Things") in December 1979, was born my first work of musician: "Cuatrista". I like so much Puerto Rico that, although I lived only one year, it was in my mind the thought of return to live in the country, ideal that was effective up to the 2005, year I met my current Colombian wife.

"Cuatrista" (Puerto Rican guitar: "cuatro"). Acrylic on paper.

I return to my country, but there was not more musicians, except some drawings I print in silk screen for my Artist's Book "The Life, the Dream and the Death" in 1981, that I created for the 1981

National Fine Arts Biennial of the Modern Arts Museum of Santo Domingo. The drawings in that artist's book were about festivities that celebrated stages between the life and the death, as the song in the birth of a child, the work, the love and the death.

The strong topics continued at the end of 1981, in "The Life, the one Dream and the Death" (the exhibition), in the Gallery Paiewonski, Santo Domingo. In November of 1981 I move to Chicago and in 1984 to Long Island, New York. Again I meet the Puerto Ricans in both North American states. The musicians topic with the Puerto Rican folklore return. My Puerto Rican girlfriend (during five years) inspires dozens of works (see works with woman with yellow-golden hair: girl-1, girl-2, girl-3, girl-4, among which some were of dance of "salsa" . If I painted Puerto Rican musicians topics, I had to paint some Dominicans as a way to mark the origin of my home land, where I was born, grew and educates. My "Atabales", "Salve", "Bachata", etc. were born in that period and have continued until the present.

"Cuartecto Boricua". 1989. (Puerto Rican folklore)	"Cuatro Player for the Children". 2000. (Puerto Rican folklore)	"Salve Song". 2000. (Dominican Republic Folklore)	"Salve y Atabales". 1989. (Dominican Republic Folklore)

During my studies of visual arts, the Fine Arts School in Santo Domingo (among 1970-73), shared the National Fine Arts Palace building with the Theater and Ballet Schools. The every day encounter with the classrooms and students of those disciplines produced deep feelings in me (although they didn't come out but after the birth of my daughter Elissa). In the early years of life of my daughter Elissa (around 1989), her mother takes it to study ballet. To motivate my small daughter in her dance class we listened enough classic music of the Great Masters, which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was our favorite one. Years after my divorce with her mother, the nostalgia of a father without his daughter originate a complete collection, composed by dozens of works related to ballet and classic musicians.

1989. Acrylic on canvas	2000. Watercolor	1991. Acrylic on canvas	1992. Acrylic on canvas
1997. Acrylic on canvas	2000. Acrylic on paper	2000. Watercolor	2000. Acrylic on canvas

Through my 29 years in the United States I have gone knowing people of different origins whose friendships have inspired works in the topic of the music of their countries or ethnic groups.

Also my great liking for the dance of "salsa", "merengue", "bachata", "cumbia" and "vallenato" have originated very interesting works. My current wife is Colombian, for that the "Gaiteros Colombianos" (The Colombian Pipers) or the "Vallenato", could not be missing in the great party of images of instrumentalists.

Being the Director of the art department of a silk screen printing company in Long Island, New York, the main printer, Gary, -with which I was working for around five years-, he had a group of "blue grass". He perform in parties the weekends. From this friend born the painting with that name. An American Indian artist friend inspires the "Pow Wow" and the "Eagle Dance". Several South American friends (Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia) had a group of Andean music, for what I paints several works with "flautistas" (flautist) from the folklore of their countries. My trip to Cuba in 1978 originate several "Soneros".

Already in Atlanta, I work the first year in the silk screen printing department for a company in Marietta and I made friendships with two African-American there. The machinery operator Gene (that I called "The Black Cowboy", for be namesake of Gene Austry) and my boss and friend Ronell Major gave origin to the musicians "Jazz Players" and The "Atlanta Girl". When I become friend of Corey Barksdale, the "Jazz Players" was already created, so I paint the "Zydeco". The sculptor Richard Jacobus and his wife inspired the "Cajun" and the "Southern Girl". A Venezuelan friend inspires "Tambores de San Juan" (Drums of San Juan), and the Argentinean painter Marga Gabarret "Adios Nonino para el Bandoneon" (Good-bye Nonino for the Bandoneon). The Marga husband and artist Dagmar Bruehmueller from Brazil motivated me to paint something from that country. Search in Internet for something different than the samba, I find the "Funana". The "funana" was no from Brazil, but from a former colony of Portugal in Africa, however I like its rhythm and melodies so much that I paints a work with that name. The list doesn't finish here and, new works will continue through the year.

1989. Blue Grass. 40x48 Inches. SOLD	2000. Dance's Eagle. 30x40 Inches. SOLD	"Andean Sound 2" 32x36 Inches. 1992. SOLD	"Funana". 42x48". Cape Verde popular music).
2001. Soneros Cubanos. 32"x36" SOLD	2006. Jazz Players. 46"x60" SOLD	2007. Cajun Players. 42"x48"	2007. Adioss Nonino. 42"x48". SOLD

20"Gaiteros Colombianos" 42"x48" (Colombian Folklore). 2007.	"Tambores de San Juan". 46"x60" 2007 (Venezuela Folklore)

 

2.- EMBRACERS (Recent Works)

One month after the destruction of the twin towers in New York the September 11, 2001, one of my collectors that had lost a son in those attacks commissioned me a painting of a mother with his son. Her only demand was that the painting should show a lot of love and happiness between mother and son. As the feelings topics it is my strong area, I didn't make one painting, but three so that she chose. It seems to be that the works with strong feelings identify me and, after those three, other paintings of mother hugging her child, many others was created. Almost eight years later, the hugs continue. "Mother and Son". 2001. "The Son's Gift". 2001. To be exhibited in the next five shows, I bring eight recent works in this topic -that is already one of my classics-: EMBRACERS. (All new works will enlarge).

New Work No. 1: "American Audience for the Erhu". Oil on canvas. 46x80 inches. 2008. SOLD. (Click photo to enlarge). Two days after the Chinese painter Shijun H. Munns and her husband visited my study for a meeting on the project "Awakening Mind Art Project", I was looking for some interesting television program, when I find a channel that I had not seen before. One transmitted in Spanish from Spain: Channel 884, CCTV AND from Dish. It was a version in Spanish of a TV channel from China, for what all its programming was related with what happen in that country. At that time, they transmitted a concert of one of the musical instruments most representative of China, the Erhu. I had seen it and heard in film, but never in concert. With only two strings, the notes were beautiful, although some Westerners consider them very high. Immediately I take some pictures of the program transmission and then search for others in the Internet. I had to create a work with the "erhu". The "erhu", well-known in occident as the "Chinese violin", it was introduced in China over a thousand years ago for a Mongolia tribe called XI. The "erhu" is tied to the historical evolution of this country and preserve total validity. The appearance of the current "erhu" is associated with the dynasty Tang (618-907) and then, during the dynasty Song (960-1279).

New Work No. 2: "Awakening Minds Project". Oil on canvas. 46x48 inches. 2008. SOLD. (Click photo to enlarge). During two years I had been thinking to unite with some friends artists and to form a group as the one I was belonged in the ultimoses years of my fine arts academic studies ("Grupo Plastico Rodante" -- <Rolling Fine Arts Group>, in around 1977), that was inspires in the group "Die Brücke" (The Bridge), formed by German expressionist artists (1905-1913), as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938), Erich Heckel (1883-1970), Fritz Bleyl (1880-1966), Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884-1976), and late would be added Max Hermann Pechstein (1881 - 1955), Emil Nolde (1867 - 1956) and Otto Muller (1874 - 1930). The group or "project" would be called "Awakening Minds Arts Project" and it would be formed by ten local artists: two African-American, two Hispanic, two North Americans from the majority ethnic group, two Europeans and two from other of the world, as China, India, Jamaica, Brazil, etc. One of the main objectives was to carry out exhibitions in museums and galleries around the Southern states of the United States. It is very difficult to gather people that are "syntonized in the same channel", for what after one year of plans for a meeting, I decided to make easy. Simply to paint the idea and to leave it on the canvas.

Other five recent works from "EMBRACERS" to be exhibited in the next three shows:

New Work No. 3: "Abrazo". Acrylic, charcoal and oil on canvas. 36x48 inches. 2008. SOLD.	New Work No. 4: "Abrazo de Familia 1 ". Oil on canvas. 40x38 inches. 2008.	New Work No. 5: "Abrazo de Familia 2 ". Oil on canvas. 43x38 inches. 2008.azo Familiar

New Work No. 6: "Bendiciones". Oil on canvas. 48x40 inches. 2008.	New Work No. 7: "Luz de Esperanza ". Oil on canvas. 36x40 inches. 2008. SOLD.	New Work No. 8: "Soplando" (Blowing). Oil on canvas. 36x40 inches. 2008. SOLD.	New Work No. 9: "Head with Bird". Oak. W-9xD-8xH-27 Inches. 2008. SOLD.

 

3- Sculpture Project

From my beginning in art the sculpture was one of my most strong area. In 1965 my father remodels our house, from wooden to concrete blocks, in San Pedro de Macoris. I use the wood that he didn't want to built (with my own hands) my first study (8x10 feet) in the patio. In that time I was 15 years old. There I carved several large wood sculptures. See picture below.

Felix Berroa in his first Estudio. 1965.	Handout of "Wood-Carving" Diploma to Félix Berroa by the Vice-president of the country Dr. Carlos Goico Morales in the "Centro Nacional de Artesania" (National Center of Crafts). 1972

In 1970 I obtained a scholarship to study "Wood-Carving" in the National Center of Crafts, opportunely I used to also beginning class in the National School of Fine Arts. The Director of both schools was the same one: the well know sculptor Joaquín Priego. Although I have graduated after two years of "Wood-Carving", few times I create sculptures, for lack of appropriate space. From 1970 to 2004, -Santo Domingo, Chicago and New York - I always lived in apartments. As you can see in the picture below, carving wood produces a lot of disposable particles.

However, although there were not many sculptures, that don't mean I do not to use the gouges. My knowledge in wood-carving help me to evolve my art through my xylographies (More known in the North American atmosphere as "woodcut"): The xylography (from the Greek xylón, wood; and grafé, inscription) technique of impression with wooden blocks. The desired image is carved "under and high reliefs" with the gouges in the wood block. With a roller the ink is impregnated on the "high relives" of the finished image in the wood block, and then transferred to the paper using a press machine or manually with a roller and a tablespoon.

"Series 23". Xylographic (woodcut). 1977.	"Mano Extendida ". Xylographic (woodcut). 1978.	"Sultana del Este ". Xylographic (woodcut). 1978.

Carving requires a lot of physical energy. In my teenages years, the 20's and 30's, that energy was effective. Nowadays, in my actual 57 years old, the physical energy it is not the same, and from time to time some backache, muscular or articulations in the arms pain conspires with the activity. In those years the activity of carving was all realized with gouges and one mallet. Nowadays I will make an intent, with the purpose of leaving some footprints in that area in my trajectory, but with some allies to the gouges: "power tools".

Sculpture Project 1	Sculpture Project 2	Sculpture Project 3	Sculpture Project 4. SOLD.

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