Luis
Artwork Description
“I first met Luis on my way to see the earliest Jesuit mission site on the west coast of Mexico. The road to Mision Nuestra Señora de Loreto Concho leads up into the Sierra Mountains of the Baja Peninsula. I had asked my driver about a green patch in the distance that stood out against the otherwise desert environment of broken rock, sand, cactus, and other spiny plants. He smiled knowingly and told me we would stop there for a closer look. When we arrived an elderly Mexican man was walking out from a grove of fruit trees to greet us. I learned that when he was a young man he created a pond and irrigation channels from a small seep-spring he had discovered. His first plantings of fruit tree seedlings eventually covered an extensive area in the canyon, yielding enough fruit to sell to the market in Loreto. Luis proudly took us on a guide through his orchard, climbing a rickety ladder to fetch fruit to sample. What I remember most though, is a face that reflected a lifetime in the mountains. I have done three paintings of him to date, all focused on that wonderful face that seems to me to wear the Sierras themselves upon it.”
– Michael Dumas
