Cob Sculpture

Ismael Vargas was born in Guadalajara, México, 1947 at one of the poorest neighborhoods in town. He tried bullfighting but discovered he wasn't brave enough to face an animal that size. He then tried opera singing and found out he didn’t have the voice either. One day, while walking next to his father, he would shake a little old box of matches, Ismael noticed there was a little painting printed at the back of the box, he thought it was beautiful and asked his father what was that, “it’s a painting” he said. “A painting?”, "Yes, a painter makes it". “Oh, then, I want to be a painter”. And so, at 13, he started to paint and sculpt. Ismael would lay on the floor looking at the sealing to "imagine" new ideas to his paintings. His mother would come and say –What are you doing on the floor you lazy and useless boy! –Im imagining, Mom, I'm working. –Working? Don't make me laugh! Get up boy! Do something!" And she would give him the sweeper to help her clean the house. Months later, He got kicked out from home because he wasn’t bringing any money by painting. He found the library of the American Consulate in Guadalajara where he noticed some books of abstract painters that inspired him and appealed to him the most. He would start by copying the painters he liked. He managed to stay there to learn, and sleep! As he hadn’t any place to go, he managed to stay for some time without getting caught. He then managed to sleep at some friend's house once in a while until he decided to move to Tepoztlán, a little town in State of México. He and a friend were looking for a place to rent, and at the end of the road they noticed a woman and her daughter –Heads or tails? said his friend ready to flip a coin. Ismael picked tails and lost the shot with the daughter and had to try to hit on the mother instead. When they got to meet them his friend got rejected by the girl and Ismael stayed forever, that woman would become his wife years later.. His friend revealed him later that the coin he used to play was tricked. So, at the end, Ismael won by loosing. *The artist, Ismael Vargas, prefers to remain distant from public contact. He has asked me to help him share his art. I'm not his dealer, only his friend and public contact.