April 19, 2024

Express yourself

Bright colors take center stage in Gutierrez’s artwork

By AMY HANSEN

OST photo by AMY HANSEN Artist Lupita Gutierrez stands next to one of her paintings being showcased through Clarke Area Arts Council at Lakeside Casino.

Vibrant colors are at the center of Lupita Gutierrez’s artwork.

“When I use colors, I can transmit my experience – what I want to tell people,” she said.

Recently, Lakeside Hotel and Casino has provided an area for Clarke Area Arts Council (CAAC) to showcase different local artists’ work. Gutierrez’ oil paintings are currently on display near the events center entrance.

Gutierrez mostly likes to paint landscapes, animals and people. She primarily likes to capture how people live in their daily lives.

“Art is just something that I can (use to) express myself,” she said. “You know, sometimes life brings you so many experiences.”

Painting

Gutierrez grew up in a small town in central Mexico and currently lives in Osceola. She has been creating art since she was 5 years old. In that time, she mostly focused on drawing people’s faces. After she grew up, she started to use a variety of colors.

A painting can take between five and 15 days for Gutierrez to create. It all depends on the subject and size of the art. It also takes time for the colors to dry on the canvas.

Gutierrez doesn’t spend all of her free time painting. However, she stays busy when something inspires her.

Winter is usually an off-season for her because there’s a lack of bright colors – everything is cold. The seasons of spring and summer are more colorful and inspirational.

Favorites

Her favorite piece of art was a painting of a ship being tossed about the ocean during a storm. There was a lot of foam from the waves. This perfectly showcases her preference of using vivid colors and a subject interacting in its natural habitat.

Right now, Gutierrez is working on a painting of a Mexican cowboy on a horse with a sombrero. He is using a lasso on the horse during a rodeo festival.

Gutierrez is honored to have her paintings showcased through the arts council at the casino.

“I feel so good,” she said. “Mostly, I like to show the people what makes a difference to show colors to them and expression for us Mexicans – how we can see the colors.”