Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Vargas.
Hi Jose, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am an artist. I started making art since I was in the first grade. I remember my first grade teacher being impressed with my work. I could tell that she reacted to my artwork, but I did not understand why. My third grade teacher (in West Dallas) also took an interest in me and my artwork. I still did not understand why. By the time I reached High School I was really into creating art and I immersed myself into it as much as possible. Art became my panacea in a world full of pain and war. This was during the Viet Nam war era. Eventually I did get drafted into the US Army. I created art while I was in there and again it served me well. That was during the late 1960’s and early 70’s. What a crazy and wonderful time to be growing up. After someone stole several of my paintings – I stopped painting for 30 years. It was not until the 1990’s that I became more involved with my art (mission) in life. I started meeting more Chicano/Mexican American artists at that time and my life (and artwork) took a different path. I became more involved with displaying my artwork in town and at one of the cultural centers in Dallas. I started to organize art shows, mostly in Dallas. Eventually I was hired as a gallery assistant at the Ice House Cultural Center in Oak Cliff. That was an eye opener for me as I met even more artists from throughout Texas. My life has taken me to many events and situations, some of them being not too pleasant, but life is like that, isn’t it?
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A smooth road? Nah, not really. Well, I guess it depends on how you look at things. I like smooth roads, but I like them better when I have a good car or pickup to drive on those there roads. And Texas has many, many highways that will take you places, but if you don’t know what you are doing, or are misguided somehow, those roads will take you to places where you will end up with your heart in a basket or maybe with a hangover that does not want to go away. I think that life is like being a roller-coaster ride, yep, you got your ups and downs. And it is up to you to continue forward. Or not. Life is making a lot of choices and sometimes those choices have sad endings. There were many periods in my life where I just did not make art. I did not connect to myself. I guess I was trying to have a “normal life”. Whatever that is suppose to be. I was just trying to survive. But the way I see it now is that if you are an artist and you do not create art then you are not being true to yourself. Perhaps your heart has become hardened. Sometimes we create our own obstacles. Sometimes we do not believe in ourselves.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an artist, Sometimes it’s not easy for me to say that, That is to say, sometimes I forget that I am an artist. I know that sounds odd. But when I look back at my 75 years of being on this planet, I remember the periods of my life I had little to do with making art of any kind. Sometimes LIFE gets in the way for some artists to be artists. We got bills to pay, lawns to mow, groceries to get at the store and then figure out what we are gonna have for dinner and or lunch. And those are just a few of the things that become barriers and throw us off in our somewhat quest of being an artist. After a while you just forget and move on with daily routines of survival. As of now – I get to organize/curate art shows at a couple of cultural centers in Dallas. I also get to install them and sometimes I participate in them as well as other art exhibitions in town. I get to work with my hands at making frames for my paintings or some of my mixed-media pieces. I also like to work with photography (I worked at professional labs for fifteen years) and I truly enjoy working in Photoshop! By the way, my interest in photography started when I was about nine years old. I have a special fondness for infrared film and black and white photography. I like to paint on wood mostly, using acrylic or oil paints. And Prisma pencils. Once in a while I will dabble in lino prints and silk screen printing. I enjoy watching what my hands will come up with next and I do enjoy working with my mind. And sometimes I don’t mean for it to happen. It just does. I can’t turn it off. Sometimes I tap into my experiences growing up as a Mexican American – Texan for material for my artwork. Am I a Texican?
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Ok. Let me see. My advice to anyone out there that is even slightly interested in making some kind of art – Do IT! Don’t worry if no one is gonna see it. Don’t worry if you are gonna display it. Don’t worry if you are gonna sell it, or not.
Just do it for the pure pleasure of being artistic, creative, and expressing yourself. Just do it cause that is what we were meant to do. It is one of our gifts in life. Sometimes I think in simple terms. If we lived in tribes, the artists would interpret dreams and premonitions. They would depict healing plants, they would help create tools for survival. They would depict the new worlds that await us and they would depict the Gods for us to worship. Sometimes Life is just a Dream. And by the way, Life was never meant to be Fair! Just accept it and keep your head above water!
Pricing:
- Some of my artwork is for sale. Just contact me about it. jvargas898@earthlink.net
Contact Info:
- Website: jvargas898@earthlink.net
Image Credits
All photos/images provided by Jose Vargas.
