Left: Ibsen Espada, Right: CofresÃ. Source Houston Press
I really believe “artist” is the one of the most difficult jobs in the whole world; and only the best can survive as true artists. People don’t buy paintings all the time, and painters are affected by hard economic times too; people don’t buy art when times are not so good.
The life of an artist is quite different from the life of developer, and at times can be quite glamorous; I’ve seen it, and it is quite amazing (as compared to the life of a developer, ha!), but getting there is very hard, and it is much harder to stay at such level over long periods of time…
So I’ve a great respect for artists who dedicate their life to art…
This is why I’ve a great respect for my first cousin, Ibsen Espada, who is an artist/painter. I’ve seen him in ups and downs, inspired and not inspired. I’ve seen him shine at painting exhibitions (openings nights are awesome), and when times are not so good. I love his art, and I’ve some of his pieces at home. He is an abstract painter.
Ibsen at his Studio
Below is an article about him from 2004 that I found on the Web (Houston Press):
For many artists, opportunity knocks once or twice. For Ibsen Espada, it banged incessantly. The part-time dog catcher was asleep with a hangover on a Saturday morning, in his ramshackle White Oak painting studio, when somebody began pounding on the door. Naked, Espada climbed out of bed, leaving behind a woman he’d met mambo-dancing the previous night, and groggily peeked outside. He saw a face that few struggling Houston artists had ever glimpsed on their doorsteps: the well-coiffed visage of Susie Kalil, guest curator for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Read the rest of the article at No Virgins, No Velvet (Houston Press).
This next painting I like a whole lot:
Welded Dancers
The following two paintings of Ibsen I found for sale at eBay:
ceo
(I totally believe that creating and delivering beautiful software to be an art)