Photos to Paintings

My artist friend Diane and I had a joint art show––her paintings and my photos.  Diane had painted beautiful watercolors from my photos. They would be shown together, hence, the name of the show: Photos to Paintings.

The invitation to the Artists’ Reception.

Photos to Paintings Poster

And the poster for the show after the Artists’ Reception.

Un Solo Sol Kitchen

Our art show was at the Un Solo Sol Kitchen, across from Mariachi Plaza in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. My  friends Diane and Erika and I went first to Un Solo Sol on an East LA food tour two years ago and I have photos of our tour on a slide show: 

http://www.peggysphotos.com/los–angeles–latin–spice–food–tasting–tour/ 

(Slide Shows, United States, California–2, “Latin Spice Food Tasting Tour” ). It was given by Melting Pot Tours:

http://www.meltingpottours.com/melting–pot–tours/la–latin–flavors–tour

The tour’s name is now “East LA Latin Flavors Tour.”

Un Solo Sol Kitchen

We thought Un Solo Sol would be the ideal place to have our art show as most our photos and paintings were of the Boyle Heights area and Mariachi Plaza taken on the Melting Pot tour.  The Un Solo Sol Kitchen is directly across from Mariachi Plaza. Also, it would offer great refreshments to serve at our show.

Un Solo Sol Mural

Another reason for choosing Un Solo Sol is that the artist who painted my driveway mural, Rafael Escamilla, has a mural in the restaurant and is a friend of Carlos Ortega, owner of the restaurant.

Getting Ready for the Art Show

We went back to Un Solo Sol to talk to Carlos several times to set up the show. Rafael told us that he would help us hang the photos and paintings. Photo of Diane and Rafael.

Finished Hangings

Five paintings and their corresponding photos were hung on one wall.

Finished Hangings

And five paintings and five corresponding photos were hung on the opposite wall.

Paintings and Photos

Diane’s paintings were hung above my photo and to the right of the photo was a description of both plus the prices: $200 for a painting; $20 for a photo.

Sales of the paintings and photos are still going on, but we sold way more than we thought we would, so we consider our show to be a success.

Our Art Show

We had about 50 people, maybe more, showing up for the show. Photo: Our guests viewing the paintings and photos.

Our Art Show

Photo: Viewing the other wall of paintings and photos and filling plates with refreshments.

The Menu

Taquitos: chicken and potato; pupusas: cheese, loroco (a flower herb) and cheese, spinach and cheese, and revuelta (a mixture of meat, beans, and cheese); and salad. Plus Jamaica and Tamarind fruit drinks and coffee. All delicious. Photo: The pupusas.

The Menu

Taquitos and salad.

More Guests

More guests outside. This photo was taken early. The crowd got much bigger as the time went on.

Mariachi Music-1 MOVIE

You need music to go with an art show and the appropriate music for this show was mariachi music. They were excellent! The band’s name is Wings of Angel.

“Cielito Lindo.”

Mariachi Music-2 MOVIE

Mariachi Music-3 MOVIE

Mariachi Music-4 MOVIE

Mariachi Music-5 MOVIE

“I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” Mariachi style.

“Un Solo Sol Kitchen” Photo

The 10 photos and the corresponding 10 paintings follow.

Title: “Un Solo Sol Kitchen,” 1818 East First Street, Boyle Heights.

“Un Solo Sol Kitchen” Painting

Title: “Un Solo Sol Kitchen,” 1818 East First Street, Boyle Heights.

“Libros Schmibros” Photo

This photo was by Diane.

Title: “Libros Schmibros (Lending Library),” 1711 Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

On the banner: “Los Angeles is like your brain. You only even use 20% of it, but imagine if we used it all.”

The banner is now missing from the front of the store. We asked about it but no one we asked knew what had happened to it.

“Libros Schmibros” Painting

Title: “Libros Schmibros (Lending Library),” 1711 Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

“The Red Arrow” Photo

Title: “The Red Arrow,” on Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

“The Red Arrow” Painting

Title: “The Red Arrow,” on Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

“La Gloria” Photo

Title: “La Gloria,” tortilla factory founded in 1954 by Manuel Sanchez Behar, originally from Puebla, Mexico. 3455 East First Street, Boyle Heights.

“La Gloria” Painting

Title: “La Gloria,” tortilla factory founded in 1954 by Manuel Sanchez Behar, originally from Puebla, Mexico. 3455 East First Street, Boyle Heights.

“Saddles at El Mercado de Los Angeles” Photo

Title: “Saddles at El Mercado de Los Angeles,” corner First and Lorena Streets, Boyle Heights.

“Saddles at El Mercado de Los Angeles” Painting

Title: “Saddles at El Mercado de Los Angeles,” corner First and Lorena Streets, Boyle Heights.

“The King Fruits” Photo

Title: “The King Fruits,” on Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

“The King Fruits” Painting

Title: “The King Fruits,” on Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

“Mariachis Waiting at Mariachi Plaza” Photo

Title: “Mariachis Waiting at Mariachi Plaza.”

“Mariachis Waiting at Mariachi Plaza” Painting

Title: “Mariachis Waiting at Mariachi Plaza.”

“Historic 1889 Boyle Heights ‘Mariachi Hotel'” Photo

Title: “Historic 1889 Boyle Heights ‘Mariachi Hotel,'”  corner of Boyle Avenue and East First Street.

This is one of the oldest commercial buildings still standing in Los Angeles. Mariachis used to stay at this hotel until it was renovated in 2012. There is a bakery located in it.

“Historic 1889 Boyle Heights ‘Mariachi Hotel'” Painting

Title: “Historic 1889 Boyle Heights ‘Mariachi Hotel,'”  corner of Boyle Avenue and East First Street.

This is one of the oldest commercial buildings still standing in Los Angeles. Mariachis used to stay at this hotel until it was renovated in 2012. There is a bakery located in it.

“Mariachi Celaya” Photo

Unframed photo.

Title: “Mariachi Celaya,” sign on a building at Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

“Mariachi Celaya” Painting

Title: sign on a building at Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

“Santa Cecilia” Photo

Unframed photo.

Title: “Santa Cecilia,” Restaurant and Mexican Food, 1707 Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

“Santa Cecilia” Painting

Title: “Santa Cecilia,” Restaurant and Mexican Food, 1707 Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights.

Metro’s Plan for Mariachi Plaza

The large Gold Line light rail station at Mariachi Plaza is little used. Our LA County Metro came up with a plan to completely change Mariachi Plaza into something completely unrecognizable––no mariachis, no murals, and no community flavor. The community strongly protested––they were never asked for their ideas. The community is now coming up with their own plans to bring more foot traffic to Mariachi Plaza. Photo: Metro’s “Mariachi Plaza.”

More of Mariachi Plaza and Boyle Heights

Diane, Erika, and I made several trips back to the Un Solo Sol Restaurant to plan our art show with Carlos and I took more photos on those trips. I put these photos on a slide show. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/los–angeles–mariachi–plaza–boyle–heights/

(Slide Shows, United States, California–2, “Mariachi Plaza & Boyle Heights”).