Total Pageviews

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Tarahumara Indian Portraits, oil on canvas

The Tarahumara Indians live simple lives in the Copper Canyon region of Mexico; farming, raising goats, weaving baskets. I love the colorful clothing and unique sandals they wear.  They are famous for their ability to run in these steep, high altitude canyons.  A group of these men were invited to run in the Leadville Trail 100 in 1993.  This is a 100 mile Ultra Marathon in Colorado, perhaps one of the toughest marathons in the world.  Victoriano Churro won this 100 mile Ultra Marathon at the age of 55.  After 13 1/2 miles he and his Tarahumara teammates ditched the modern running shoes they were given in favor of their home made sandles.  In the last portion of the race Victoriano and the other Tarahumara runners were seen sprinting up steep trails, something no other runner has ever been able to do.   The Tarahumara are mentioned in the book Born to Run. 

Me and Victoriano Churro at his home in Copper Canyon.  He shared apples from his orchard with us.


Copper Canyon, Mexico
Oil on Canvas  24" x 24"   $1,800
Our friend Chris and the view from the dining room of Uno Lodge perched on the edge of Copper Canyon.  This lodge is owned by the Tarahumara and has the most  amazing views.  The Canyons are named not for copper but for the way the sun shines on the rock giving it a copper glow.  Copper Canyon is larger and deeper than the Grand Canyon.



Photo from 1940.  Things haven't changed much there.

Oil on Canvas  24" x 24"  $1,800

Oil on Canvas 24" x 24"  $1,800

Oil on Canvas  18" x 24"  $1,400

Oil on Canvas  18" x 24"  $1,400

Oil on Canvas  18" x 24"
$1,400

Oil on Canvas  18" x 24"  $1,400


Tarahumara Portrait #7
Oil on Canvas  18" x 24"  $1,400

3 comments:

  1. These are nice. Did you photograph them and then paint? Just curious.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, these paintings were done from the photos I took on our trip to Copper Canyon Mexico. I loved the colorful clothing and the unique sandals the Tarahumara wore. I focused on the figures and eliminated most of the backgrounds for the paintings.

    ReplyDelete