THE NEW MEXICO OF HIS BOYHOOD – churches, pickups, chiles, and “sacred elders” – have filled Ed Sandoval’s canvases for 40 years. They are about home, faith, and family. They are not, he says, trying to be something they’re not.
He was born in Nambe but moved to Los Alamos as a child when his father got work on the Manhattan Project. He moved on to Tesuque and Truchas before landing in Taos in the late ’80s. His paintings are famous for their bold red undercoat, which often remains as the outline of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
He’s a legendary painter in these parts, but maybe more then anything, Ed is a teacher: He taught art in Los Alamos and Salt Lake schools for over 20 years. Even after retiring, he can often be seen under a red umbrella in front of his gallery painting with children. And he might be dressed as Zorro (more on that later).
Courbet famously proclaimed that art cannot be taught. So how did Ed Sandoval do it for two decades? I visited his gallery in Taos to ask that question.
How did you start painting?
I got run over by a car when I was six. So I was in a full body cast, stuck in the hospital in Española for quite a long time. My dad signed me up for a correspondence course with the Chicago Art Institute. I would do drawings, send them off to Chicago, and they would grade them. For a year, all I did was draw and paint. I don’t know, I just had this strong attraction and fascination and inspiration with art.
And then you became a teacher.
I was recruited to teach in Salt Lake City high schools and then in Los Alamos. I didn’t think Los Alamos would hire me because it was the same high school I went to; I thought they might remember me, you know?
How do you teach art?
There are principles you start with: light sources; light into dark; shading on geometrical shapes; two, three, even four point perspective. Then you get into colors with pencils, then watercolors, then acrylic, then oil.
You get to the point where you learn how to take a flat canvas and create depth. Creating depth in a painting comes with time, a lot of time. So this you can teach.
What you can’t teach is inspiration. Inspiration comes from your heart and personality. When you look at an artist’s work, it’s always based on their personality. And each painting is a journey; it’s like going to a different country each time.
Some of my kids got really involved in their projects, and they wanted to come back after school to work on them. A kid voluntarily staying at school! That’s when you know inspiration is happening.
And then there are the others who just don’t give a shit about art. Unfortunately, a lot of kids are thrown into art classes because the school doesn’t know what else to do with them.
What about Don Quixote and Zorro?
The tales of Don Quixote! I’ve always been fascinated by Spanish history. And Zorro. Zorro came out of California. Don Diego de la Vega was his secret identity.
We all are interested in heroes. I like Zorro as a hero because he helped the poor, indigenous peoples of California protect their lands from Montezuma in Mexico City.
You have to like Zorro. I mean, otherwise you have somebody like Flash Gordon – OK, this guy wears tights. I don’t think I want to be Flash Gordon on a horse. I’ll take Zorro. I’ve got the masks and the cape right here.
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