March 15, 2009
By DENISE M. BARAN-UNLAND For The Herald News
Imagine the time it would take to paint the hair of 15 lions, strand by strand?
Yet it is time happily spent for Gerardo Valerio Trigueros, winner of multinational honors and awards during his 38-year career. He says he uses his paintbrushes to fight for the preservation of ecology, especially endangered wildlife.
"I work 12 to 18 hours a day and that is still not enough time for me to finish projects," Trigueros said. "I will need another two lives for me to finish the projects in my brain."
On March 28 and 29, Trigueros will host a two-day painting workshop at the Plainfield Art League. There, he will provide his students "recipes" for creating whatever subject matter they desire.
"I don't see myself as a teacher or a professor or a master. I'm a helper," Trigueros said. "Through my experiences I help my students develop many things that they had only dreamed to do. I think it's important for everybody to find their own subject."
Last summer, Trigueros won Best Painting at the Joliet Festival of the Arts.
Trigueros' interest in wildlife was fostered by his grandfather, Dr. Manuel Valerio, biologist, entomologist and naturalistic studies professor, who often sent the young Trigueros and Trigueros' father into the Costa Rican rainforest to collect specimens for his studies.
Then, at age 9, Trigueros officially became recognized as an artist when he won a contest with his drawing of Costa Rican ex-president Jesus Jimenez.
Later, at the University of Costa Rica, Trigueros excelled in art, including drawing, painting, sculpture, xylography (wood engraving) and engraving. He graduated with a bachelor's degree.
"I decided to paint animals in their environment and all my colleagues told me that I would die of starvation," Trigueros said. "At that time, no one in my country talked about the environment. Many times when I was starving I thought about quitting, but through the years I began to understand the passion I had for the work. It's a matter of love and of patience."
Trigueros creates artwork in two styles -- hyperrealistic and abstract -- and employs a variety of mediums to accomplish it. He paints in acrylic, oil and watercolor. He also creates sculpted pieces and pencil drawings and works in pastel.
His paintings are exhibited in the Costa Rican presidential palace and in government collections.
Others are on permanent exhibition at the Ministry of Education, Nature and Energy, Justice and Grace and in the collections of the National Bank of Costa Rica and University for Peace.
For more information, visit www.gerardovaleriotrigueros.com.
