BY FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ
”In August, I received a call from the Southern Baja California Institute of Culture, asking if I could teach a drawing workshop with a variety of painting techniques to the children of the orphanage La Casa de Hogar, and I excitedly accepted,” said Begoña Fernandez.
Originally from Cuernavaca, Morelos, near Mexico City, she has lived in Los Cabos since 2015 with her talented daughter, Elisa Gimenez, who this past March, won an award for her short animation film at the Rome Film Festival.
Elisa’s film, called “Equinox,” took her three years to complete and is about a nervous apprentice who must face off against a powerful priest of darkness to save the Equinox and bring balance back to the world. “Traditional animation is very time-consuming. The whole thing was hand-drawn frame by frame. It ended up being over 2,000 drawings for a three-minute film, but I’m very happy with all the work I put into it,” said Elisa.
Now she and her mom, Begoña, will present an art exhibition between December 5 and December 12 at The Institute for Culture and Art, located one block north of Lazaro Cardenas Boulevard, down the street from Giggling Marlin. The free Exhibit premier event starts at 5 PM on Saturday, December 5. Complimentary appetizers and drinks will be served.
“The boys and girls have been preparing since August for this event that will showcase the art they created with our group of 12 Los Cabos artists who volunteered their time to make this happen,” said Begoña Fernandez. “The boys and girls who have participated in the workshop will receive a percentage of the proceeds as well as recognition for their creativity and talent. Voices of the Soul was designed so that their voices are heard, to reaffirm that they are important and that they are not alone. Voices of the Soul was designed to allow them to experience something special. For these children who have lost so much, it is like a promise for them, that there is a better future.”
One of the artists who worked with the children, Roberto Reyes, ventured into painting at an early age. His first works consisted of portraits and landscapes which only improved his skills. His artistic universe of symbolism and literary fragments in prose or poetry was conceived a few years ago with the hope of venturing into a fantastic perception of our world and its peculiar poetic personality. Deep feelings, difficult truths and forgotten virtues are the narrative premises of his compositions, in which he tries to rescue what humanity tries to ignore, hide, or forget.
Another featured artist, Enrique Ortega, is a self-taught and well-known local painter whose bright colors and style have sold very well with tourists and locals alike. “His paintings are so pretty,” said Lynda Verkerk of Santa Cruz, California. “We have two pieces hanging in our house,” said A. Jean Herie from Edmonton, Canada, adding that Enrique ”is an amazing artist.”
Mako, a pseudonym artist, was another key person responsible for touching and transforming the lives of the young orphans at La Casa de Hogar. Mako’s work talks about expanding love, joy, and happiness.
“I like to paint life simply happening in beautiful places, without adding anything more than the meaning that life already has,” said Victor Payan, one of the other artists who bonded with the kids during the three-month painting workshop. The rest of the artists are Rene Fujiwara, Yahaira Giron, Alan Isaac Hernandez, Aldo Olaya, Hugo Ortega and Kerem Payan.
“Thank you all for sharing your talent, and your time and with so much love. Thanks to everyone who continues to make this dream possible for these children,” said Begoña Fernandez, who also noted what an incredible experience everyone has shared during this special workshop that connected 12 artists with 12 orphaned children.
