November 22, 2003
Section: Local & Regional News

Once-reluctant artist finds a calling
Internationally recognized rayada artist will visit Half Moon Bay shop this weekend Amelia Hansen, STAFF WRITER

HALF MOON BAY -- Damaso Ayala Jimenez's dream of becoming an accountant was cut short when his father was assassinated by a Mexican military commandant. Ayala was a college student at the Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City when he got the news that his father -- a prominent artist and community leader -- had been shot, and that he would have to return to his small village and take over the family art business.

At 21, Ayala didn't want to have anything to do with "rayada" -- the traditional lacquer art his family had been practicing for four generations. The sixth of 10 children, Ayala wanted to dig himself out of poverty and give his family opportunities they'd never had.

Three decades later, Ayala has done just that -- with art.

Ayala, assisted by his wife Paula, has become an internationally-recognized rayada artist. Some of his pieces have been included in a U.S. museum tour, "Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art," and installed in Mexican art museums. This week the two artisans are making a stop at the Nuestra Tierra Gallery in Half Moon Bay, where visitors can watch them work.

Ayala, who does not speak English, told gallery owner Charles Nelson that when he left college he was resentful he had to take over his family's rayada shop -- that it felt more like a business than an art. Now, however, as he has become more successful and well-known, he has allowed his imagination to flourish and innovate on the traditional form.

"Now I don't have to work so hard to feed my family," he said as Nelson interpreted.

The word "rayada" is often translated as "etched" or "scratched" lacquer, but the words do little to convey the overall impression of the work -- or the time-intensive labor involved.

An art native to Olinala, Guerrero -- Ayala's hometown -- rayada involves taking a piece of wood, covering it with a thick black lacquer made of handmade oil and natural pigments, burnishing it with stones until it's smooth, and left to dry.

Then vibrant colored paint -- made from bark, a special ground-up insect, or sediments from the earth -- is put on top of the black base. The artist will sketch a design -- usually of stylized animals or flowers -- on the top coat and eventually etch out the design with a turkey quill, exposing the hidden layer of black beneath.

In the back room of Nelson's gallery, Damaso explained the process as Paula meticulously polished a rich, black lacquered tray with a soft rag -- doused with Pledge wood spray.

Both Damaso and Paula, who were neighbors in Olinala, learned the art as children. While they now have families who work for them and help out, Damaso does the freehand artwork while Paula does most of the painting, etching, and polishing.

The couple has four children in Mexico -- two have become professionals, one is at the university, and the youngest is still in high school. Unlike their father, they will all have the opportunity to pursue their own choice of careers. They have all learned rayada, but none is interested in pursuing it professionally.

Damaso is not saddened by this. He is glad, he says, his kids have had the opportunities they've had -- even if it means that the family art business will die.

"I know that in this branch of the family, the art ends here," he said.

(c) 2003 San Mateo County Times. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.