Holy Mole! Occupy LA and double standards

Last weekend i was part of the 4th annual Mole festival at Olvera Street. i was invited by Mariluz Gonalez owner of Vesper Public Relations. I had worked with her in the past, when i had a Day of the Dead show at the now defunct "Coffee Table" cafe in Silverlake, she assisted me in putting out the press release for the show "Monsters Skulls and Pin-Ups" and got me spanish television interviews.

Mariluz and I

 I was particularly excited to be a part of this event because for the first time ever, i had prints made of my art. I had a hell of a time getting there because "CicLAvia" was that same day. I had to criss cross downtown LA going south past the 10 fwy. and back up Alameda ave. once i got there i had to look for parking and was once again, out of luck as Occupy LA was occupying the intersections around Olvera Street. Once i found parking and got to the display area, the festival was in full swing, mariachi groups were belting out tunes, my friend Kamla showed up, to help me set up. I met up with Mariluz and Jose Castillo, an artist I had showed with at the Atwater Village art walk earlier this year. I also met Joel Raul Martinez another local LA artist. Jose's art consists of images beautifully rendered in stamps, the  kind with the date and time, he uses it to create the form and layer in the darks, Joel's work is more street inspired, using an array of media on wood panels to create portraits

Joel

Joel and Jose

We three artists were located in the VIP area which meant that any news interviews that day were held in that area, which was a plus for me because my paintings were used as a backdrop! After a little while various people in the media trickled in and the selling began, I sold 2 instantly and gave a few away to some news reporters. I didn't realize just how many connections i would be making that day, and i was thankful for that;

Denise, Vanessa and I

 I met up with Denise whom i met at a charity event i was a part of earlier this year and she introduced me to Vanessa, who works at the Mexican Consulate. a bit later i met some other people involved at the city level to whom i gave some of my prints. It's nice to be able to have prints to sell or to to give out as high quality "buisness cards". I got a Mole dish a bit later, Mole is a type of salsa made from the Cocoa bean giving it a creamy velvety chocolaty flavor, it as delicious on chicken as it is being cleaned off the plate with a tortilla. I finished off the meal with a Jarritos soda, one of the sponsors of the event. I met Krista Simmons there, she is a freelance writer for the LA Weekly,who writes her own blog. She was there covering the event. She talked a bit with Mariluz

Krista and Mariluz

 she even did a little Q & A with Jose..

Jose and Krista

 The day was winding down and my mom showed up, just in time! It was nice to chill with her for a while we went out to dinner a bit later

Mom and I
On the way back to my car I snapped this picture-

Occupy LA

The contrast of this homeless lady walking up to where the protesters were reminded me of something my friend Kengikat said about Occupy LA, he said that all of the protesters at Occupy LA were sanctioned by the city to be able to camp out in front of city hall for as long as they needed to stay there. If it were a group of homeless camping out, they would all most likely be arrested, in fact, i wouldn't be surprised that if a homeless person was found to be camping along with the protesters, the would at the very least be asked to leave. The double standards at work was unbelievable. Not that i have anything against Occupy LA  but its just too Ironic that people fighting for some kind of equality are themselves getting special treatment over others in need, Homelessness seems to be something that is ignored in this country, as children we are taught to share and yet as we get older, we do just the opposite. Just something to think about...