La Sagrada Herencia de Madre Maiz

Amy and I share a studio at our home in Oaxaca, Mexico. Our approaches to painting are very different and we both admire each other for the unique abilities we bring to creation. Being with Amy when she makes her masterpieces is enthralling and perplexing both.

Amy usually begins work without a clear idea of what will arrive in the end. The entire process is a journey of discovery which she refers to as a ¨conversation¨. It is as though she opens herself to the power of energetic vibration and then uses that to bring forth visions and stories. 

I am amazed at the potent stories that are told in her paintings. My frustration is when I see her come and go from her work, which she does frequently. She gets something done and walks away, sometimes for a day or so, only to come back and change it. She insists she does this at the painting´s request. She is self taught and has to see her work in stages⏤fine tuning all along. 

My paintings take much less time to accomplish than Amy’s. I have a degree in fine art with much academic training. Over the years I mastered my techniques and work with strong impulse, not second-guessing as I go along. 

Amy has done very well in her art career and has more recognized achievements and awards than I during her forty years of art making. It is because she is pure in her creation.

Here in Mexico, we both have been inspired by the culture and our art reflects some new paradigms.
Amy has just completed a fine example: called, 
La Sagrada Herencia de Madre Maiz.  ¨The Sacred Inheritance of Corn Mother¨
       
She says: ¨Since childhood, I have felt a connection to the jeweled colors of corn, and throughout my life, it has become a totem symbol that represents me. I felt a deep sense of reverence while bringing this prayer to life."

"In my painting, the vital force, coming from the potent world of Spirit is also in the memory and breath of our Ancestors. The Human Being; in this case, a child wrapped in Guadalupe´s rebozo is open to receive the gifts / blessings that surround her. 
And, Corn, the staple of life, is the heartbeat of it all.”

For more : Amy Córdova Art

Daughter of Tonantzín

When Amy gets an idea for a painting, I can “see” the light go on. Then, with a burst of energy she goes to work. It is like tapping pure water, rising from an aquifer deep in the earth, bringing life to flow over the terrain.

Daughter of Tonantzín. acrylic on canvas, 24" x 36"

I enjoyed being near her while she painted her most recent work called, Daughter of Tonantzín.

Amy said:

“I have been a bit slow in getting to my paints since moving to Mexico last spring. My art has always had its inspiration from landscapes, people and places I have lived. I must feel them before I can paint them. So southern Mexico is very new and my DNA hasn’t fully absorbed the magic and majesty.

I have always loved Guadalupe, the dark skinned Madonna and her predecessor Tonantzín, the ancient mother goddess of Mexico. I intend to do a series of three paintings, which depict the descendants of Tonantzín who walk the rocky paths of my new home. The Zapotec women are humble and quiet; they are the daughters of Tonantzín/Guadalupe. Sacred in their own right.”

A Life of Its Own

The great jazz player Louis Armstrong said, “Musicians don't retire; they stop when there's no more music in them.” I have always thought artists don’t retire.

Amy and I have slowed down our usual pace of making art. The huge project of moving to Mexico and into our big house on a fairly large property absorbs us. The number of hours we work has not changed much. 

I enjoy the grounds. We arrived at the end of the dry season and it seemed many of the plants were dead. Not so. It has begun raining and they are all turning green. Below our home, down a hill I spied a clump of yellow flowers all in a heap. On further inspection, they turned out to be what was left of a tree cut down many months ago. The limbs had enough life that they were blooming. Kind of like a chicken that has its head cut off continues running around. I brought many of the limbs home and stuck them in our pond that receives the waste water for the house. It has aquatic plants that clean and filter the water. That was a few weeks ago and the blooms have continued. I dug holes and planted them this past week and they are showing signs of growth. This magic occupies my imagination and inspires me.

As for art, Amy is working on making a bilingual edition of the book she illustrated called Dreamcarver, (El Tallador De Suenos) by Diana Cohn. Some of the images are reworked and the text includes Spanish. And she has begun work on a painting of Tonantzin: the original mother deity of ancient Mexico who predates Guadalupe.

Painting in progress. 50x50 cm, Frida Kahlo, oil on canvas.

I am at work on an image of Frida Kahlo that is taking far longer than usual for me. I made a few mistakes early on and had to go back and fix them. Paintings have a life of their own. Some children are born in a wink of the eye, others seem to take forever.