The Magical Landscapes of Jesus “Toro” Martinez
Jesus “Toro” Martinez grew up in Laredo in a working class family, the youngest of seven children. He owes much of his early interest in art to his older sister, Herlinda. When Martinez was a young boy, he would accompany Herlinda to her art classes with Amado Peña at Martin High School. Peña, who would emerge as a nationally recognized Latino artist in the late 1980s, taught art in Crystal City and Laredo schools in the early 1970s before moving to Austin and later Santa Fe in the decades that followed.
Toro Martinez: “Snow at Salado Creek.” Painted during the Great Winter Storm of February 2021.
Martinez enjoyed Peña’s lessons about mixing colors and especially the advice that Peña gave his students on how to make a living as an artist. Years later Peña's advice resonated for Martinez as he realized that entrepreneurship, such as seeking art commissions, working with art collectives, and applying for state grants would help him survive in the tough and competitive art world.
Martinez left Laredo in 1986 to attend the University of Texas at Austin. The large campus did not suit his needs and he left UT Austin six months after his enrollment. His preference for a smaller art program led him to the San Antonio Art Institute which at the time was located on the ground of the McNay Art Museum. The Art Institute, which closed its doors permanently in 1991, offered at the time a joint BFA degree with Trinity University.
Toro Martinez: “Coming Home.”
Few Latino art students have the opportunity to study abroad early in their careers: Martinez was the exception. Trinity University offered an education abroad study program at the National Academy of Art in Helsinki that he found ideal for his studies. As part of this degree program, Martinez enrolled his senior year at the National Academy of Art Finland in Helsinki. As a study- abroad student, Martinez spent the 1991 year learning new things about painting and visiting museums, opportunities that expanded his appreciation and understanding of art.
Martinez returned to Europe six years later earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Ravenhurst in Amsterdam in 1999. While studies in Finland and the Netherlands taught him much about Renaissance and modern European art, his visits to Mexico over many years also influenced his style and form. He was inspired by the works of the “Tres Grandes” Mexico’s brilliant muralists and painters--Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siquiros.
Toro Martinez: “Wildflower Trash” Lady Bird Lake near Austin, Texas. [Recycled shredded plastic added with paint to canvas].
Martinez is fond of nature scenes and many of his recent landscapes works are from Texas hill country. The forms that make up his body of work are, in his words, “individual visual statements” designed to show his “creative soul and impact the emotional souls of others.”
Toro Martinez always begins his new art projects with preliminary sketches, and as often as possible paints his landscapes based on careful observations of natural light and physical settings. He describes his sketches as simple “internal thinking and conversations,” as he mulls over his subject matter and considers possible choices of colors he wishes to apply. His thought processes and creative approach are much like that of a novelist who writes and rewrites scenes.
Martinez paints daily, and his choice of figurative or abstract renderings depend on his mood. When the weather permits, which is often in San Antonio, Martinez drives to the trails and banks of Salado Creek near his home to paint small oil nature sketches. His oil paintings, often 10x10 inches in size, serve as the ideal “study works” for his larger pieces. His “Coming Home for the Night,” for example, is a large oil painting [102x66 in.], and a rendering from one of his studies.
Toro Martinez: “Wetlands of Salado Creek.”
Tall oaks and green shrubs are a hallmark of the Salado Creek which flows for more than 15 miles from west to east in a northern section of San Antonio. The creek has an interesting San Antonio history. Following the 1691 “discovery” of the San Antonio River and San Pedro Springs, the intrepid Spanish explorers marched north and came up the Arroyo Salado. The Indians of this region, bands of the Coahuiltecan tribe, had camped and hunted along these waterways for more than ten thousand years.
Today Salado Creek is more than a scenic space for Martinez. It is also one of his favorite spots to find discarded material to use for his creative works. As a conservationist, Martinez frequently devotes weekends to the cleanup of the creek. Heavy rainfall or storms brings trash such as plastic bags to the creek from the adjacent bedroom communities. Martinez helps to pick up the trash and has some of it shredded into confetti like material which he colors and attaches to his canvas.
Martinez relies on an inner sense or “third eye” to create and make their works meaningful. The well-trained artist learns early on to develop new senses, or new ways of looking. What they decide to paint may be spontaneous, or it can evolve over time. The final product can take many different forms, as in Pablo Picasso’s famous painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, [1907] one of the world’s first cubist paintings whereby Picasso sketched over months his 800 plus concepts in several notebooks.
Toro Martinez in his studio, San Antonio, Texas.
The “third eye” is essential for communicating one’s perspective. Conveying certain ideas and concepts is one of the major artistic goals according to Martinez. He explained that one might see a grey house and decide it looks better painted blue.
The “third eye” concept has been called mystical or esoteric. Mystical perhaps because those who create art rely on many different stimuli--past and present-- as well as memory and ideals to construct the visuals they choose to convey. Martinez notes that only through a “third eye” can an artist reach deep into their personal emotions.
Martinez has participated in group art exhibits at The Blue Star Contemporary Arts Museum, San Antonio, Texas, The Museum of Modern Art, Tampere, Finland, Galleria Amores in Mexico City, and MexicArte Museum, Austin, Texas. Martinez’s solo projects include the Museum of the West in Oslo, Norway and the Finland National Academy of Art in Helsinki, Finland. Today his work is collected by individuals nationally and internationally.
Toro Martinez: “Butterflies in the Night.”