Rhonda Crespin
Rhonda Crespin is a Santera - an artist that makes images of the santos (saints or holy images) in the form of bultos and retablos (painted wooden sculptures and panels). She began working in the Spanish colonial tradition exclusively in 1988. Rhonda was born in New Mexico in 1962 and can trace her Spanish ancestors to the arrival of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in the 1540s. Artistic talent is also inherited, and she mastered the centuries-old art techniques through personal research and apprenticeship using traditional tools and materials. Since 1992 she exhibits at Santa Fe's Annual Spanish Market and other juried Art shows and events, including workshops, guest lectures, and educational outreach programs. Her work is represented in several museums and private collections. " I love this art form because it unites and expresses what is closest to my heart, faith, family, tradition, and art!"
Lawrence Córdova
A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Lawrence grew up in Santa Fe and was influenced artistically at an early age by his father Andy Córdova. Lawrence watched his father finish charcoal drawings and oil paintings as a hobby in the basement of their family home. Lawrence began drawing pictures with pencil, charcoal, & pastels and later ventured into other types of Art and when he was eleven years old, took woodcarving lessons from the well-known sculptor, Ruben Montoya. This early exposure and influence to Art gave Lawrence the desire to continue to expand upon his artistic capabilities and experiment with other art forms throughout his life.
In 1992 Lawrence was introduced to Spanish Colonial Art by his brother James Córdova and later juried into the annual Traditional Spanish Market in 1995 for Retablos and a year later juried into the Painted Bultos category. Throughout the years, in addition to participating in Traditional Spanish Market, he has displayed and sold his art in several galleries and has pieces in the permanent collections at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, The Denver Art Museum, and Regis University collection in Colorado Springs, as well as numerous private collections.
