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I was born on June 9,1955 near the Bosque de los Caballos in a little house located in Jaroso, Colorado, about six miles north of the New Mexico line off highway 159. I attended school in Denver and graduated from West High School in 1973 and joined the United States Marine Corps the day after graduation. I took part in Operation Nimbus Moon. In 1976, I enrolled into college at the University of New Mexico and graduated with a BFA in photography in 1981. My first paintings were a series of murals which measured 800 square feet that I was commissioned to paint. The three murals depict a small New Mexico pueblo, a ceremonial snake dance, and the Aztec calendar. This is my first introduction to the world of painting.My artistic passion really started when I was a little boy. I remember my parents returning to their place of birth to visit my grandparents and relatives. In my familia, the male cousins out numbered the females by three to one. Los primos would often stay in San Acacio and spend time there where our favorite playground became a battle ground where pretend Cowboys and Indians roughed it out during warfare.
During these visits, I remember the elders sitting around and the kids listening intently to the stories they would share about the oldest town in Colorado. But one story in particular really caught my attention and it occurred in San Acacio, Colorado, the birth place of my Madre querida.
The story was told that one day a party of Utes were galloping towards the small village of San Acacio to attack and steal all the villager’s provisions. All of a sudden, the Native invaders reared their horses to a complete stop and supposedly saw an image in the clouds above Mount Blanca behind the villagers who had lied in wake ready to fight and protect their village and families. Whatever they saw in those clouds remains a mystery today to some and some people will even say they think it was the face of the lord that scared them away. Who knows and who knows if we will ever know the truth, but one thing is for sure, it has captured my curiosity and so it is my passion to revisit that day and try to capture its significance.
I relish in creating works painted on dark backgrounds It is the darkness that I explore because it is the unknown. By painting and revealing what appears to me in the darkness somehow sheds some light on the unknown. My interest in childhood memories and a passion to find out more about that mysterious day is what drives me to the roots of my very existence.
Death returns to bring me a cultural past, somehow now coming alive in my paintings.
Art truly is about color, light, texture and movement, but also it is about creation, a moment in time, an emotion, and my passion in life. Who knows what is reality and what is fantasy. Do you?
Yo Soy Jerry Rael
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Raices Brewing Co., 2060 W Colfax Ave,Denver,CO,United States