This was so much fun. Sure I worked my butt off for four days straght, but it was worth it just to get that feeling back! The event was great, the company was good, and the music was rockin;) .........................More details later..............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz 11:40 p.m. and all is as it should be......................Anyway getting back to this has only taken a few months or so! This was sort of the kick off of work that seems to keep coming in bits and pieces, in between the constant hula performances. Okay, Roberta called and asked if I would like to participate in an event at the Pasadena Playhouse for the Latin Heritage Foundation. Quetzal was going to be Performing and Andy Garcia was hosting the event. She wanted to know if I would like to do a demo. on Papel Picado and possibly sell my wares. Of course I jumped right in as I do, thinking, sure I can add this to my plate. This is where my mother would say "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Where are you going to put that?" Not to worry, I will find some place to put it! And so I did , right in my back pocket with all the other things I'm going to get to eventually... As it turns out Roberta also asked if I could create something for Andy Garcia and Quetzal as a thank you for giving their time to the event, which I was happy do. Until I actually had to come up with something......Ha ha ha. What to do? After all, these guys are pretty well known out there, and what could I possibly do that would be of some value to these people, that I know nothing about? So on Roberta's lead I started poking around and decided to go with the Quetzal Logo for the band. Andy Garcia was a little more complicated. Yes I knew he was Cuban, so what images come to mind, cigars, palm trees Castro......So I read about him and this fellow kept coming up in the stories. A musician By the name of Cachao who happened to be a very well know Cuban Base Player and friend of Andy Garcia, who by the way, helped him relaunch his career here in the United States. Well, Cachao had passed away. Something in me was drawn toward this man and I wondered if I could do an image of Cachao playing the base? And that is what I set out to do. I wanted to give Andy Garcia an image that I hoped would be meaningful to him. Something told me this was the thing I was looking for. But I did not know if I could capture him In a Papel Image. I was however, in my never say die frame of mind. I really wanted to get this down. A personal challenge. So I set to work choosing paper, choosing an image, sketching out an image, and finally "cutting away the scraps of negative space". Wow what a metaphor. The work was done and presented to Mr Garcia the night of the event. I was not there to give it to him . I was out front doing my Demo. thing. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and told me that he really liked the work and that he wanted to come out to talk to me. I was , for a person who prides herself as not being star struck definitely star struck. I found myself tripping over my tongue with nothing intelligent to say to this very handsome, tall, kind hearted man how came over to thank me for this gift. I discovered that it had not been even a year since Cacaho had passed away making this gift more relevant than I imagined. Andy Garcia left such an impression on me. It was the way he spoke and the way he carried himself. He had that calm center. He was genuinely kind. It was such a fun moment for me because Maritza and Daniel were there to see this exchange. I definitely won some cool mom points on this one!
