LA VIDA: Local Youth Learning, Reveling in Traditional Religious Art

PERALTA — Like many 11-year-olds, Norah Chavez has a favorite subject at school — it’s math — and enjoys playing sports, running cross country and track, specifically.

Unlike many her age, Norah likes a very old, deeply-rooted New Mexico tradition — painting wooden retablos of saints.

Three years ago, Norah had a desire to learn more about the saints, what they are known for and how to make the traditional retablos she’d grown up seeing.

“I wanted to learn more about my faith and the tradition of how to make them,” Norah said.

With saints “always around the house,” Norah was naturally interested in her faith, said her mother, Augusta Chavez.

“The whole purpose of doing these is essentially like a long prayer,” Augusta added.

Always interested in drawing and painting, her grandmother gifted Norah a traditional art class for Christmas.

“She has always been into art. For Christmas and birthdays, she’s always wanted art sets. My mom and dad wanted to get her something different, so my mom reached out to an artist who did tin work, but he wasn’t able to take on anyone,” said Augusta.

That led the family to connect to Peralta santero and jeweler Felipe Rivera, who became Norah’s mentor, teaching her the traditional ways of making New Mexican retablos. He encouraged Norah to participate in the youth portion of the Traditional Spanish Market held in Santa Fe. All youth participating in the Spanish Market must be mentored by a juried artist.

A highlight for Norah at this year’s Spanish Market, her third so far, was getting to meet Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester and have a picture taken with him. The archbishop leads the Mass held at the market every year and blesses the artists and their work before a processional out to the plaza.

“He was kind of headed back after and she saw him so we got a picture,” said Augusta.

Making a traditional piece of artwork means Norah doesn’t just order supplies from Amazon. She is learning the traditional way to make the pigments she uses from her mentor, how to prepare the wood and finish the final piece. For instance, she’s learned walnuts make a brown color and there’s a specific bug found on cactus used to make red pigment.

The wood is typically a light-weight basswood or pine, a tree readily found in New Mexico. Once she has a piece of wood, Norah paints it with a layer of gesso — a paint-like substance made from rabbit hide and glue that dries down to a white color and serves as the under layer for the painting. The piece is sanded smooth and then she sketches out the major parts of the image she’s going to paint.

“I don’t sketch all the details. I just draw the body shape and after I do everything — draw the eyes and the mouth, and the tiny little things,” Norah says.

“Tell her what happens when you mess up,” Augusta prompts with a laugh. “Her favorite part.”

Norah rolls her eyes and sighs as only an 11-year-old girl can.

“I have to get water and try to erase it, but something that’s nice about the paint that I use is it’s pretty easy to take off, but it takes some time,” she said.

Once the painting is done, the retablo is varnished and then coated with beeswax, to give the finished piece a more traditional matte finish.

To learn more about the traditional ways, her father, Richard, suggested the family harvest their own sap for the varnish.

How did that go?

“Sticky,” says Norah.

While the images of the saints have a traditional portrayal and are easily recognizable by certain elements, every santero has their own signature in their work. For Norah, it’s using light, muted colors and often showcasing animals in her images.

Before she even picks up a sketch pencil though, Norah begins with research on the saints, looking at reference images, learning their stories and attributes.

“That takes time,” she said. “I use my books to look up different scenes.”

At her grandparents house in Peralta, Norah has a workspace for her wood and paints, complete with a small collection of reference books on saints.

Her favorite saint is one she’s painted frequently and wears a scapular to honor — Our Lady of Mount Carmel or the Blessed Virgin Mary, the patroness of the Discalced Carmelites.

“I wear the scapular. I wear her everywhere I go. When I take her everywhere with me, she just makes me feel protected,” Norah says. “She gave the scapular to Simon for protection. She helps souls in purgatory and she protects people.”

For Augusta, her favorite saint is San Pasqual, the patron saint of cooks and kitchens.

“Family and cooking kind of go hand in hand. The tradition of being together is really special,” she said. “It was probably one of the first pieces I bought from her.”

As Norah continues with her mentorship under Rivera, her mother says there is a tremendous amount of support from the traditional artist community as a whole.

“There are so many artists who are willing to teach her other aspects. This past summer, she did a class in Santa Fe for straw (appliqué). They are more than willing to help the youth figure out where they fit in and what their strengths are,” Augusta said. “I think the community is just super strong and they are really good with encouraging the youth to continue the tradition.

“The youth are able to learn and grow in this traditional art form that can’t be taught online, can’t be read in a book. It’s only through words and the actual mentoring relationship that it carries on.”

Norah said not only is she grateful to learn the traditional art form of making the retablos, she’s grateful people have them in their homes.

“I’m really grateful because they get to pray to these retablos and get closer to God,” she said.