AZUL

SUZANNE AZUL CHONETTE

Artista de Santa Cruz, California suzanna_azul@hotmail.com

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Mi Historia:

Soy AZUL de California, una tierra rica en tradiciones y artes de Mexico.  Soy AZUL de sangre mezclada:  Los pobres de Irlanda, los marineros de Escocia,  los Ingleses perseguidos por su religion y  los inmigrantes alemanes que buscaban una vida nueva.  Somos Californianos por mas de 150 anos,  pero sabemos que antes de 1848 esta tierra era de Mexico.   Desde nina me fascinaba  el estilo Californiano:  La casa de mis abuelos con sus patios de azulejos, macetas con nopales, y los vestidos de mi abuelita y su hermana bordados con flores y pajaros,  tambien su joyeria de plata fina mexicana. Por eso fui a Mexico a conocer su belleza. Estudie en Mexico: Arte, lengua y cultura en el Instituto  Colectivo de  Lengua y Cultura Cuauhnahuac en Cuernavaca,Morelos; y en el Instituto de Cultura en Oaxaca, Mexico.  Vivi en Zihuatenejo/Ixtapa, Guererro, Mexico, donde cante en los clubes y restaurantes, pinte retratos de  gente, y ensene Ingles.  Me encanto la vida en Mexico, pero  extrane mucho a mi familia, por eso regrese y ahora vivo aqui, en Santa Cruz, cerca del mar. Ahora, trabajo con la gente Mexicana.  Enseno clases de Ingles y salud para los inmigrantes legales e ilegales.  Trabajo con mi musica para los viejitos en los hospitales y enseno el arte de los azulejos en talleres de escuelas  para ninos.  Soy AZUL del mar y el cielo y le doy gracias a dios por todo  lo que me da!  Viva el arte!

My Story:

I am AZUL.  Blue is my color, my love of the sea and the sky.  I am Californian, my family has had roots here at the edge of the Pacific for over one hundred years.  My Grandmother and her sister dressed and decorated their homes in the early California style:  Mexican traditional.  I grew up fascinated by their embroidered blouses and handwoven cotton dresses, silver jewelry, Mexican ceramics and pottery, tile patios and potted cactus plants blooming with color.  It's no wonder I was drawn to the source of it all: Mexico. I studied art and language at Cuauhnahuac a Collective Institute of Language and Culture in Morelos, Mexico, and the Oaxaca Cultural Institute in Oaxaca, Mexico.  I lived in Zihuatenejo, Guerrero, Mexico where I enjoyed singing in nightclubs, painting the beautiful people and teaching English to the employees of the huge hotels on the beach in Ixtapa.  I could stayed forever, and may return someday, but I missed my family.  I live in Santa Cruz, California and try to be of service to my bi-cultural community by teaching English and Healthcare to the Mexican immigrants, both legal and illegal. I bring my music to the elderly confined to local nursing homes and have learned many old traditional Mexican folk songs from the aging musicians that are so happy to have music back in their lives.  I teach a Mexican tile workshop to the school age kids through an arts program called SPECTRA.  Most of the kids are recent immigrants from Mexico and love to learn a traditional craft from their country.  It makes them feel proud of their heritage.  I too struggle to survive.  Unfortunately, original art and live music are less than valuable commodities in our everchanging modern world.  But who would we be, as humans without the Arts?  Art feeds the spirit and without spirit we live and die without ever experiencing life itself!  I hope the sale of my artwork will allow me to stay here, by the sea, the source of my greatest inspiration and the reason I am AZUL.