El fresero

Refran:  "Although he with the most holes earns the most, 

Tired and fatigued is how how he goes home"

Card Description: For my Loteria Card I wanted to share my thoughts on field workers and their pay. I chose field workers as a subject matter because my parents are field workers and have been for almost the entirety of their lives. I myself have also worked in the fields since I was young, I started working in the fields when I was 12 and have been working in the fields during the summers ever since then. In the five years that I've worked in the fields I've experienced cold weather, rainy weather and extremely hot weather so hot in fact that we had to sleep in the fields just so that we didn't have to work in the blazing sun. I too have worked extremely long 13, 12, 11 hour work days in the field so I know first hand what working in the fields is like. The colors in the piece represent all the colors you would typically see in a strawberry field or a field working environment nothing bright or cheerful just the dirt or mud and whatever crop it is that you might be picking. The images in the piece represent a field worker who is leaving the strawberry rows to get his card stamped which determines how much he made that day. For me personally, this card represents the hardships that field workers go through for example working in rough conditions like hot weather, cold weather, and rainy weather. Field workers continue to work in these conditions because if they don't they wont make enough to get by.  I want the audience to see and notice the amount of hard work and just how much field workers endure to get by whether it be cold, hot rainy or windy conditions.

Student Biography: My name is Alexis Iturbide Mendez and I am a senior at Santa Maria High School. I live in Santa Maria, California with my mom Carmela, my dad Jesus, my two brothers, and my one sister. My parents are from Oaxaca, Mexico while me and my siblings were born here in the United States in Santa Maria. In my Loteria card, I chose to represent the pay of  field workers depending on how many boxes of fruit they harvest . What inspired me to draw my Loteria card was the fact that for years my parents aunts and uncles have picked strawberries to make ends meet. The artistic process was pretty relaxing and calming because I got to put my idea on a canvas and I know it won't go unnoticed. Life after high school will be four or more years serving in the military. I made this decision not only for myself but for my parents as well, I want to get them papers so they can stop living in constant fear of being deported and leaving everything they've worked so hard for behind.