Licha

SCULPTURALS 

In 2007 I was invited to exhibit at Borderlands Gallery located in the Booth Western Museum
in Cartersville, GA.

After meeting with the curator of the gallery and visiting the museum I knew immediately what I wanted to create to exhibit for the gallery. I had had an idea of work I had been wanting to create for sometime, but, finding the right gallery to show my special creations hadn't come along. I wanted to create expressions of hands using hands of people whom have inspired me in some way or another. My hand inspirations had finally found a home at Borderlands Gallery.

 Mama Covita's Spices

sauces with a pestle called a tejolote. A comal is a round griddle made either of unglazed earthenware or from the circular metal plate used on top of potbelly stoves. In my grandmother’s case, she owned a metal comal which was from a potbelly stove.

The molcajete that she used was such an intriguing tool of her trade. Although both tools were used daily by Mama Covita, it was the molcajete that transformed many colorful peppers to spices and spectacular tasting sauces which complimented the many wonderful foods she cooked.

I clearly remember Mama Covita carefully roasting the peppers of her choice on the hot comal. She would often cook with jalapeno, Anaheim or ancho peppers which all had their own special taste. She would pluck the roasted peppers with her thumb and index finger quickly from the comal to avoid burning the tips of her fingers. During the pepper roasting process I remember the lower level of the entire house filling with a distinct aroma that would sting my eyes and take my breath away!

Mama Covita would then place the peppers on the molcajete and gradually roll the lava stone across the peppers as she twisted her wrist slightly to crush the skins and seeds. This technique was just the beginning of her process of making all the wonderful sauces that would compliment her mouth-watering Mexican dishes.

When Mama Covita died in 1960 my mother packed away her 2 molcajetes. Tucked away in a corner of the basement, the molcajetes lay waiting to be claimed and revived once again of their many flavors of the past. My plan was to claim Mama Covita’s culinary past. When my oldest sister got married I was sure she would ask my mom for the molcajetes. But she didn’t. When my brother got married I felt confident he would be the one to ask for the molcajetes because he had acquired a strong talent for cooking. But he didn’t.

It was my turn to plan my wedding. I asked my mom if I could have one of Mama Covita’s molcajetes. I was so honored when my mom handed me both precious tools of a woman whom I greatly admired and who left such a major impact in my life.

The first time I thought I was going to re-enact my grandmother’s tedious process of making sauces I unpacked the molcajete and began to rinse the stone of any dust from years past. As the water began to seep into the crevice’s I began to smell the spices my grandmother had ground into the crevices of the molcajete! I immediately stopped the washing process and dried the stone as much as possible. I didn’t want to wash away anything real that linked me to my grandmother.

Although I don’t use the molcajetes today I enjoy knowing that there are remnants of my grandmother’s past just a water spray away from the molcajete.

                   How The                                           How The                                           How The
            Bear Lost His Tail                         Milky Way Came To Be                   Turtle's Shell Got Cracked

A few years back I had met a wonderful Native American storyteller who lives on the Cherokee Reservation in Cherokee, NC. I had the opportunity to hear Lloyd Arneach lecture at a local school in Georgia. Lloyd presents his stories in a style that is humorous, informative and extremely moving. When I heard Lloyd tell his stories I was just awed by the graceful movement of his hands which he used so eloquently to depict each folklore story he told.