February 1991 - Listening to Joseph the Starwatcher while painting my Taos studio, I heard an ad from the Center for Anthropological Studies announcing a group trip through Guatemala. Having just sold a large canvas at my Santa Fe gallery, I thought "Aha, this is my chance to get some good photographs for a new series of paintings!!! Inspired by Clark Hulings paintings of Mexico, this could be my ticket! Enamored by tGeorge Carlson's Tarahumara pastels, the fantastic work of Elias Rivera and Ramon Kelley's wonderful Mexican portraits, I was inspired to go to Guatemala. The joke in all of this is that I am and always have been severely agoraphobic! What was I thinking? Deciding to put it all on the line, I signed up and put my money down. Away I go!!!!
The tour was sponsored by an archaeologist and his wife from Albuquerque and led by an expert guide from Arizona. I missed the evening orientation because of the two hour night drive from Taos and figured it was no big deal. Thus everything I experienced in Guatemala came as a total surprise! Our group assembled at the airport. My bags were packed and I was headed into the Great Unknown! Buen Viajae!!!!
The airport in Guatemala City was dark and the money changer was not at all friendly to a bunch of noisy Americans. Entering our hotel that first night we were greeted by men with AK47s standing at the entrance. Shock and Awe - my first clue that this trip for some photos might be quite an intense experience! Hah! What an understatement! It would be life-changing! Tremendous street noise from the traffic below my room and the anticipation of a great adventure kept me awake that whole night.
A blessing ritual by a local shaman in who was celebrating his sobriety. He lit a fire - said prayers to his ancient gods and poured a bottle of whiskey into the flames. Six years into my own recovery, I gave him a hug. My group buddies stared in disbelief through the bus windows. Think I might have been inappropriate. A long day of visiting sites with huge carved stone Olmec-inspired heads. Have always felt that these heads in Central America originated from some ancient African culture - early explorers. A small local "zoo" of four or five emaciated critters gave a first hint that Guatemala was not just an ordinary photo trip!
Back to Guatemala City and the market on our tour. I took my first photos in this strange place. Beyond excited by the colors I imagined these images filling all the blank canvases in my studio once back in Taos. We were warned that if we gave one child with their hand out, we would be swarmed by many more. A very young girl came up to me with a small child who definitely looked as though he was dying. She said he was her baby brother and held out her little hand for a quetzal. Because of our strict warning, I refused. Her desperation still haunts me. I know why families cross the Rio Grande!