Patrick Gabaldon is our January 2020 Artist of the Month. He is an El Paso native and mobilized his talents to raise money for victims in the wake of the El Paso mass shooting. Check out our full interview with him below!

Jenny Kearney: What experiences inspired you to get involved in art as a way of communicating?

Patrick Gabaldon: I am not entirely sure. I have always been creating; whether that was through music or through doodles, but it wasn’t until 2012 that I picked up a brush. The truth is that I still don’t always know what I am attempting to communicate through my art. It’s even becoming more evident to me that the emotions communicated through pieces, new and old, are constantly changing as I change. For example: at first the many prickly pear plants I painted were meant as a sort of portrait of the desert, to reframe the reputation of our region into a bright and beautiful desert landscape. But as I continued to paint them I see them now as a portrait of the people of El Paso; of me, my family, my wife, our community story. At first (and still) I meant to express joy. Not a complex joy, but an overwhelming joy. And now I feel that these pieces are attempting to communicate complex joy, pain, struggle, and strength.

Life on the border is complicated. That’s probably why my inspirations to create always shift: because we are always shifting. The story of the border, much like the Rio Grande itself, is always twisting and winding in new ways. Forming a new path.

JK: What projects have you been working on recently?

PG: I am currently focused on painting more! The holidays always have me away from the canvas filling orders and doing pop-ups so every Jan and Feb I take time to get back to basics and paint.

I also just released my first book which I wrote and illustrated. It was written soon after the attack in El Paso and is a poem in remembrance of those taken from us. The book is titled "Desert Blue" and is still being worked on in the hopes that we can make it available to more people.

JK: What accomplishment are you most proud of?

PG: I am most proud of the work my wife and I have been able to give back to our community. Monica and I realized that the only way to truly say "thank you" for all the love we've been given is to give back.

We always make sure to donate art to local organizations here in El Paso, and when 8.3.19 happened here we knew we could call on our friends to raise money for the victims. We reached out to out artist community and learned that others were planning and wanting to do the same. In a matter of days, the artist community and its supporters were able to exhibit the best collection of Southwest Chicano art and raise over forty thousand dollars for the victims. That wasn't so much a moment of pride for ourselves, but for our whole community: to see firsthand the love and commitment our community had for each other in a time of overwhelming sadness.

The other proud moments definitely shrink when compared to that one, but they still blow my mind. Like creating art for a presidential campaign for Beto O'Rourke, exhibiting my work at the El Paso International Airport, having a photo I took of Dawes (my favorite band) used as an album cover, painting with the kiddos at El Paso Children’s Hospital, and seeing my art in homes and business across the country. It's been a wild ride and nothing would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of Monica. She runs the business and is the guiding light in my work.