Educational Media Reviews Online

This portrait of folk artist Nicholas Herrara provides a brief look into his connection with nature and his creative process. Living and working in El Rito, New Mexico, the land that has been in his family for generations, Herrera tours his property in the El Rito mountains, clearing the acequias, or irrigation ditches, that feed his land. He tends the small streams and aquifers, and relies on the importance of water to his land, to his art, and to life.

Down from the mountains, his home and studio, 11 Arte, fits seamlessly into the natural landscape. He works on his art, alternately with caring for the ditches that carry the mountain water from the aquifers. His paints are made from chimney soot and the different hues of clay that are on the property. He likes to keep some of the grit from the clay in his paints to provide texture and remind us of where we come from, and where we are going. He created a chapel for his mother, Celia Herrara, next to his studio where she asked to be buried. The beautiful little chapel is filled with the Celia’s folk art, as well as that of her son. As Herrera recites a prayer to his mother, beautiful seasonal scenes of the New Mexican landscape cross the screen. Recuerdo stresses the connection between man and the earth, and gives a glimpse into the creative soul of the artist—vital bonds we all need to remember from time to time. This lovely and inspiring ethnographic film will be at home in libraries supporting a variety of art, anthropology and philosophy programs.