Chelo Gonzalez Amezcua born in Piedras Negras, Mexico in 1903 to parents who were teachers from Monclova, Mexico. On Thanksgiving Day at the age of 10, her family moved to Del Rio. She was the youngest of 6 children, 4 boys and 2 girls. Her family has always had many ties to Texas with her Mother’s baptism at the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio and her grandfather was a pioneer Brackettville, Texas ranchman.
Chelo says of her family:

”My parents were poor, but they always tried to create happiness for us. They played the guitar and sang with joy. This family of mine took care of me as if I were something special to them. I did not play with other children, my family was enough. I used to sit under the trees by the San Felipe River where I went to swim and watch nature, especially birds. My father and mother told me stories, and my dear sister Zare, who took special care of me, sang to me and was the inspiration of many of my musical compositions. I was always a dreamer, and I am still painting my dream visions.”

Chelo was artistic and lived it. She was spiritual and believed in spirituality and past lives. She was a visual artist and poet. She worked as the candy lady at the Kress department store in Del Rio. We met her old Kress manager one time when he visited our gallery and expressed her immense talent in arrangement. At the end of most work days she would work an additional 3-5 hours on her artwork. She felt ball point pens had many advantages and needed no special technique for use, thus they were her chosen medium on most pieces. The world in which Chelo created through her artwork was a beautiful place filled with magic, mysticism and wonderment.

She passed in 1975 at the age of 72, but before her passing she was the first woman to receive an exhibit at the McNay Art Institute in San Antonio in 1968.

She left behind artwork where we met Chelo while working on Spirited Journeys - Texas Self Taught Artists of the Twentieth Century at the University of Texas in 1996. We began to represent her work and get to know her through her nieces. Chelo and her sister Zare never married and lived together in Del Rio most of their lives. Chelo saw the universe in her own intimitable way where she recorded her visions to share with others. We are so honored to have her work to study.

Her work has been highly collected and exhibited worldwide with one of the highlights being included in the Mediumistic Exhibit at the Halle Saint-Pierre in Paris in 2001.
I know she loves that.

*all works below are available for purchase.