in my family en mi familia by carmen lomas garza

The author mentions this multi-generational aspect in her text accompanying the piece Birthday Barbeque.Īnother particularly interesting aspect of the book is the representation of rural life, such as farm settings and the presence of animals. In the paintings we see various gatherings in which family and community members of all ages come together to partake in an event. Lomas Garza honors these traditions which shaped her own childhood by depicting them in beautiful paintings.įamily is a major theme throughout the book, just as it is an important part of Latino and specifically Mexican culture. The text and pictures complement each other with reoccurring themes such as family, food, rural life, religious and healing traditions, multi-generational gatherings, the natural environment, among others. Lomas Garza’s desire to celebrate her Mexican American identity makes this book a great resource for introducing Hispanic Heritage Month in the classroom.Ĭreated over a span of 11 years, the paintings show scenes of colorful, lively, symbolic images specific to life in a Mexican-American family living near the U.S./Mexico borderlands. An opportunity for me to easily remember more of my Spanish. You are welcome to read those notes and comment there as well.Īdded Bonus: The sketches/explanations accompanying the prints are bilingual, first in English and then in Spanish. I will be writing more notes in my annual thread about hispanic culture. Because mostly the subject is the same-family members of her family-the subjects are similar. So today at the library, I was pleasantly surprised. I had not thought that Sandra Lomas Garza would publish another similar book, just didn't think she would for no particular reason. My son was still little, so I bought the book that night. They reason she probably had that proble, with perspective is because she uses an interesting perspective in this artwork.Īt the time of her presentation she had recently published Family Pictures / Cuadros de Familia.

My non-artist self cannot detect that problem here. Lomas' main professor teased her about her problems with perspective. She is one of several famous artists who graduated from that same university in South Texas, including Amado Pena. While she was there, she gave a presentation at the university's art gallery.

When I was a graduate student, Lomas went to Kingsville to visit her family in the late 1990s.

In my family en mi familia by carmen lomas garza