WU- Whats up Gustavo, Hows Life ?

GR- maaaaan Joey, so far so good....I'm not in jail and I'm still eating food out of a fridge, sooo life is
goooood...

WU- So how long have you been painting and what style/medium of artist would you say you are?

GR- I'm going on eleven years now doing the same stuff, oil on canvas....and I'm not really sticking to any particular style,
I'm switching it up, doing a little realism, a little abstract, some cubism....surealism,...just everything,..so that the
audience stay interested in what I do...

WU- So who some of you favorite artist?

GR- I like all kinds of Artist, all the masters, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatelo(not the ninja turtles), I like Franzetta, Dali,
maaan I could keep the list going,...Diego Rivera, Frida...a bunch.....

WU- I see lots of your work is of your heritage and culture. Is that your inspiration? or is
it something else?

GR- Yeah i tend to do stuff that I love and that i know from experience...so my mexican background keeps me inspired to express my
upbringing....real colorful stuff,,..but I try to do other things to, so that i can say i've done it all...but I still have
alot to do bro....


WU- So all your paintings are in series.What number series are you on right now and whats it called?


GR- painting in series helps alot in keeping track of what year you did your paintings...right now I have three series I'm working on,
the pin-ups, the napa series, and the gangster series....so I'm pretty busy right now....


WU- Do you have a favorite series of work?

GR- Not really, I love them all the same...like your own children,..even though i was my moms favorite,...juuussss kidding...


WU- Being that your from Sacramento and been doing art here for a while, whats your opinion on the art scene
here in sacramento over the past few years and years to come?


GR- maaan, its taken a while but we are becoming a hub for art,...and its about time....I mean come on, we are the capital of California
we should be like leading the pack in the Arts,...but whatever, better late than never,...and we are only gonna get bigger in the next 10 years,..


WU- Tell us about your Gallery and where its at what goes on there? ..incase we are ever in the neighborhood.


GR- weeeeeell, I'm located at 1908 P street, near the corner of 19th and P street,...and basically I have my stuff in there,...
but I rent out wall space for artist that want to showcase their stuff....every second saturday of the month we do art exhibits
and have food, drinks , music, and we stay open til like 10pm or later, til people leave...i also teach art lessons and rent it
out for special events, or meetings...I want to do more but time will tell what else I can do...poetry or whatever...
and I want my space to be more of an experience rather than just another gallery, you know....


WU- Nice..So there must be quite a bit of business involved with art once you have a gallery to be responsible for.
What advice to have for artist who paint for the love but want to venture into the business side of things
and start makeing money with their art?


GR- when I first started, i was shooting for the stars, i was walking into galleries with my photos in hand and was like "can you give me a show".
and i was getting turned down like "who do you think you are".....so then I started going to cafes and restaurant,
where ever I could get some wall space to show my stuff,...places like "True Love Cafe", "Vallejo's Mexican restaurant", "TexMex restaurant"
they gave me my first oportunity,...and I'm very grateful to the owners for believing in me and letting me do that....
and so people were commenting and liking my art, and asking me if it was for sale , if I sold prints,
if i did commision work,...all kinds of questions....so I realized that i had a market for my art,...so the question was "how do i sell my stuff and at what price"...
i went to galleries and checked out what stuff was selling for so i could make my art competative in price,...but I found out that the price also
depended on who the artist was and how long he or she has been in the game,...cuz if yer just some artist that paints for a minute then never paints again,
why should someone invest their money on you if its not gonna go up in value,...cuz you have to understand that art is valued like a stock and if the popularity
of the artist goes up so does the price....so you have to get busy and be seen and do arts and craft shows....and give donations to worthy causes,
people will remember you for yer generousity,...always give back to the community,...don't expect them to give to you if you don't give to them....
but i realized that in the art world there are a bunch of dicks who think they control the artist career,...so don't let them....don't sit there and wait til they
call you,...find some studio space that is reasonable, open yer doors to the public,...have them come in,...make sure you pay yer bills on time, yer smud, PG&E, alarm sytem,
insurance, credit card achine(YOU NEED A CREDIT CARD MACHINE), phone, internet, RENT....whatever bill comes in....but don't get all dissalusioned...
its not gonna be an over night success...yer gonna have to network, go meet the people,...get out there and sell yourself,...and people will want you to succeed,
and they will support you by buying yer art...maaaan I can keep going but that was just a lil bit of what goes on...



WU- With 2008 done, whats plans do youo have for 2009?


GR- for 2009,..I want to get more exposure with the media,,..have at least one show a month in Sacramento(second saturday)...and at least one show outside of Sac,..
push for more internet sales,...and try to make that money and pay those bills....


WU- Any shout outs, Last words, ect..?

GR- I just want to thank you Joey,and thank everybody that has been there for me through all this,...and of course recognize that nothing can be done without Gods presence in my life...
.sooo for all those artist that read this, remember that you are not competing with anybody(unless you enter a contest) but that you are loving what you do, and you are trying to
inspire the next generation of artist and become a voice to your community with your images....see you at Reynoso Galeria