This 24" painting was originally purchased by a prominent resident of Tepic, who collected many important yarn paintings over the years. She bequeathed it to her son, who elected to sell this one. The masonite board was absent of a written story or signature on the board; however, 2 very old typed pieces of paper, with white out, were attached. Albeit a bit brown and tattered from age, the paper conveyed the story in both English and Spanish. Here is the English version: "The idol of Tatehuari: "Finally, all the religious objects were made in the appropriate form: the arrows were made with due preparation, and the idol was formed with great resemblance to the old Master of the Fire. The votive arrow of the old man was placed to the right of the idol (our left), with the majic mirror of the god: nierca. On the opposite side are the instruments of the Young Star: his arrow and his share of the prayers, or itari. Encrusted on the head of the idol appear two feathered arrows with curative powers." When the Old Man died, his idol was taken out of the inaccessible cave that had been its residence, and was carried to Tatehuarita, near Tecata, where the Spirits of Our Ancestors were. Then the Old Man was named 'Tatehuari': Our Grandfather of the Fire. Through time his significance was illuminated at the time when the deer were no longer seen. Likewise during this lapse, Young Star was revealed the same under his true name Tamatsi Paratsica, Our Older Brother, the master of the hunt and keeper of the deer. Nowadays the Huicholes make offerings to Our Grandfather of the Fire, in the cave Tatehuarita, where the idol is encountered filled with powers." "It is there where we learn its story. The idol is made of stone block, teanuxa. They break into little pieces the part corresponding to the idol's heart, by instilling internal force." Besides the two typed pieces of paper, a small piece of masking tape with "$450.00" written on it, was attached to the board. It is unknown if this dollar amount was intended as US currency or pesos. As you will notice, this painting's eyes, along with version 2 and 4, are absent of pupils. Given that the story is about a powerful stone idol depicting Tatehuari, not about the god himself, it stands to reason why pupils were not shown in the paintings. Also, the most notable differences between this version and all others is color, balance, fill-in, and overall craftmanship. Clearly, this is the only painting of the group with a blue background. Also, the use of neon colors, which were most commonly used in the mid to late 60's through early 70's, was also showcased more predominately in this version. Also, common to this time period was the stylistic feature of bold color ringing interior objects. To me, however, what sets this version apart from all other versions is the meticulous attention to detail to affect balance.... First, notice the face of each painting. Of all versions, this one maintained immaculate symmetry throughout the face when alternating the pink and yellow yarns. Second, look at the prayer arrows that flank the body of the idol in each version. In this version, the artist deliberately juxtaposed the two interior colors to create interest without compromising balance. The arrows in versions 2 and 3 flanked their subject with different colors; version 4 sloppily used the same colors. Along similar lines, notice that the prayer mat (to our right of the idol) in this version took particular care to color code the interior squares so that the viewer's eye is drawn to the center figure of the idol...a technique often used in print ads. Version 3's prayer mat was also designed with interior squares; however, while its use of multiple colors added interest, it was void of pattern or balance. Lastly, worthy of note is the impeccable attention to the background's fill-in detail, where the geometric patterns mirror each other on both sides of the figure (like above and under the arms) to promote symmetry. Background detail was a very important element in the early stages of yarn paintings when thicker wool yarn was used and compositions were more simplistic. In all paintings, except for version 3, you will notice this feature. When I first came across all 4 versions, I couldn't help but try to order them in my head, if I took the position that they were all produced by Tutukila or by several artists. In consideration of the line-up, it is helpful to know a little about Tutukila and the development of yarn painting. Tutukila, at age 15, went to Guadalajara for a short period in 1964 to apprentice under master painter and shaman, Ramon Medina Silva at the Basilica of Zapopan. I may be wrong, but, I don't believe Ramon was signing the back of his paintings at that time. It would stand to reason that

Recently I decided to try and work a bit with pinholes. However I was nor too motivated to buy a ready-made pinhole camera like a Holga nor wanted to spend too much time trying to build one. I began reading that you could make a pinhole out of, for example and old camera. It was said, in a nutshell to take out or disable the shutter (leaving it open) and then placing for example the body cap with a pinhole drilled into it over the body. Then of course some sort of covering to lift up to open the pinhole, and down again to cover the pinhole. I recalled having it suggested to experiment with a piece of tin foil, and ounching a small hole into a flat piece of it about 1 or 2 mm deep. Nut I nor wanted to buy a second hand camera nor risk destroying one I already have. Then I began thinking about something... If the pinhole can be covered while the shutter is left always open, why could the reverse not be done; the pinhole always open (or not) and the shutter sinply set to "B", thereby using a release cable and manually calculating the shutter time. I took the Olympus OM1, took off the lens and moulded a piece of tin foil around half the camera body's front, being careful to keep the piece in front where the lens would be attached flat. Then I poked a hole through the middle of the front about 1mm deep, and carefully twisted the sewing needle to try to round it. Afterward I attached two rubber bands around the body to hold the tin foil in place. Having remembered to experiment with the sewing needle sized pinhole at about 5 seconds, I took photos at 3, 5 and 7 seconds or, sometimes longer. the indoor shots were totally lost. Not enough light, I am sure. But both on the terrace and outdoors I managed to get some images. I would say the better images were at 3 to 5 seconds, suggesting I had made the pinhole slightly large. Of course this is just a test, so I am not expecting to create a sensation with these pinhole images. I am wondering what the difference is though between leaving the shutter open and using only a pinhole lever and leaving the pinhole open and using only the shutter set on "B". The images are not very clear at all, even blurry for pinhole images. But I do find the whole procedure interesting. if anyone wants to take the time to speculate, comment and/or advise I will be very happy. Thank you!