El Espíritu

Refran: "El espíritu siempre va a estar contigo 

El espíritu nunca te va dejar."

Card Description: For my Loteria Card I wanted to share my thoughts on Dia de Los Muertos and how it has a major impact on people. Dia de Los Muertos is a celebration of the lives of the loved one’s we’ve lost. We put out an ofrenda, with candles, candy skulls, Cempasuchil, and some food for the dead. I chose Dia De Los Muertos as a subject matter because it’s a tradition that I do with my family and I love it, I hope to share the love with other people. The colors in the piece represent the night sky, the bright Cempasuchil, whimsical butterflies, and a spirit. For me personally, this card represents the celebration of the spirit’s life, The child is a descendant of the spirit, and the spirit is watching over him with butterflies and such. You see the spirit is the spirit of his dead father that took his own life months after the child was born. But I want the audience to see a young child walking through a field of the flowers of the dead, while the spirit of his grandfather or father watches over him, protecting the young boy.

Student Biography: My name is Irvin Sanchez-Morales, and I am a Senior at Santa Maria High School I live in Santa Maria, California with my mom and my father. My Loteria card is based on Dia De Los Muertos. What inspired me to draw my Loteria card was how when I was a young boy, I would make an ofrenda with my mom and celebrate together. For as long as I could remember me, and my mom would buy flowers and make some food or buy food. This holiday has a special place in my heart because I love Halloween and these are close together so overall, it’s a huge celebration for me. The artistic process was tough because I am very much a perfectionist, but my inner Bob Ross inspired me. Whenever I messed up, I just thought to myself “it’s a happy little mistake”. Life after high school will be very tough but I am ready to chase my dreams of being an English teacher, I want to be on par or even better than My English teacher Mr. Aguila.