TERESA BOSKO
ARTIST
Detail: Tacocat in the making. Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Cactus planet panel. These were originally made for Viva El Gato! Copyright 2015 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Maybe a big luchador face in space...? Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Perhaps big crazy flowers attacking the cactus surf monster...? (Note sombrero outline on drop-cloth.) Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Re-shaped panels. This guy would eventually be part of another composition. Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Still messing around with color...Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Cat face was a quickie-sketch on roofing felt. He made me laugh, so I kept him. Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Cactus monster now wears a luchador mask. This is a good example of how the art takes-on a life of it's own. It's always best if I get out-of-the-way and let it happen. It knows where it should go... Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Original sketch: Tacocat. Lotsa cats used in the art for El Gato (the cat), not only because of the name, but mainly to poke fun back at some of the jokesters making comments about "cat tacos." I figured I should just "embrace" it... Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Laying-in the cactus. Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Coming along nicely... Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
The prickly-pear cactus grows abundantly in Mexico, and is used in cooking. I have a collection of them growing in my studio. Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Was thinking about the capes the luchadores wear... Copyright Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
This guy is watching classic Lucha Libre on a vintage TV. An actual rabbit-ear antenna would soon be added. Copyright Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Detail: Tacocat. Copyright Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Primed surfboard and taco. Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Tiki-luchador surfboard. Hang-ten, baby! Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Iguana on a boogie-board... Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
This guy's not getting away! Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
Bbbllllllllttttttttt! I had so much fun making this piece! Copyright 2016 Teresa Bosko. All Rights Reserved. El Gato Taqueria, Akron, Ohio.
EL GATO TAQUERIA
Tacocat Siesta-Fiesta
Tacos and cats. Cats and tacos. A rich, never-ending source for jokes and visuals... No sense in fighting it! And what fun I had creating the art that would hang in the red, chandeliered dining area of El Gato Taqueria!
Living with cats of my own, (Hello everybody!), as well as many, many cacti, I just had to combine the two in some outrageous work that would not only reflect the El Gato theme, but also capture the sassiness and self-satisfying personas of our feline friends. Always making-up stories in my head, this was a chance for me to bring one to life...
I save everything and anything from earlier works that has landed in the scrap pile, because experience has taught me it belongs in another composition. This proved to be true with this work, and it's always a fun surprise to see the magic happen. It was liberating to push the humor-button on this, because I tend to sometimes get too bogged-down thinking about making serious art... (WARNING:Post-modernist art school thought hang-over... YAWN).
More than any of the other pieces made for the restaurant, this one got me back to my little-kid-playing-with-my-crayons self, and it convinced me that I definitely need to hang-out here a lot more in the future...
Pure freedom, baby.