Riomar

November 6, 2007

It’s hard to believe that a year ago today I was up early and enjoying a cup of coffee while I watched the sun rise over the Dominican Republic. My friend since graduate school, Raul Miyar, had arranged for me to visit Los Altos de Chavon for a week and give a relief printing workshop to the students there. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. The Dominican people are warm and friendly and everyone at the school was generous and gracious. One year later and the D.R. is trying to recover from Noel blowing through last week and wreaking havoc. Today my thoughts are with all my friends who may be suffering in the Dominican Republic.

One of a few revelations I had while in the D.R. occurred on my last day there. My friend David was driving me to catch my shuttle to the airport when a sign I had passed a few times during my stay caught my eye. The sign stated directions to various wealthy subdivisions near the beach including one called “Riomar”. In a flash I read it as an anagram for my name, Ramiro. This was something I had never thought of in all the years of my life and for one that has spent the last 16 years, or so, mining the significance of water in his artwork it was a stunning revelation. Rio (river) Mar (sea)

The whole reason for me being in the D.R. seemed like one big coincidence but everything felt like it was as it should be. Firstly, one of Raul’s students, Tomas, was a big Tool fan and had seen my website because of the band. He asked Raul on one occasion if he had ever heard of this artist, Ramiro Rodriguez. Raul responded that he did know of a R.R. and when he saw my website recognized the work as his grad school friend. The other reason Raul would recognize the work is because he is the model for most of the male figures in the underwater paintings. So, one thing led to another. Raul contacted me, we caught up, he asked if I still printed and would I like to come down to give a workshop. I agreed right away and made my way down.

Raul is a great person to be around. There is an almost zen-like presence to him that seems to radiate calm. One of the first things he said to me when I arrived was “I always knew you would come here.” This surprised me because I had lost track of Raul after grad school and hadn’t seen him in more than 10 years. “I just had a feeling” he said. Well, his feeling was right. I can’t wait to visit again and see what else comes about.


In other news: Pablo Ros of the South Bend Tribune wrote a story on my Dia de los Muertos installation. Read it HERE