By Sal Guarino
San Miguel de Allende is rightly celebrated for its variety of outstanding artists. Today, it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to a very special one of them, painter Ricardo Ortiz.
Meandering one afternoon a few months ago, my wife and I came upon the open door of Ricardo Ortiz’ gallery and studio on Zacateros 17 (between Pila Seca and Umaran). Ricardo was seated, as he often is, with his right-side profile facing the open door just two feet away, brush in hand, intently painting. His signature position, so close and inviting to those walking by, is perhaps unusual, but surely revealing of Ricardo’s need to paint while staying connected to people. Although the intensity of his focus is palpable, his simultaneous silent invitation gently beckons you to enter.
Within a split second of stepping into an instant world of vibrant colors and bold brush strokes, Ricardo sprung up from his chair and delivered a buoyant, warm, and bilingual welcome to this gringo and his Mexican wife. The immediacy and gregariousness of his graciousness were pleasantly surprising. He conveyed an infectious and unmistakable passion for his craft, exuberantly sharing thoughts about his stunning wall of celebrities, brilliant scenes of San Miguel, various commissions in progress, and numerous other striking works, demonstrably and joyfully pointing them out one at a time. Ricardo was fun, humble, and engaging, welcoming us as if we were visiting family and applying no pressure to buy anything. We didn’t need prompting anyway as we quickly decided to add one of his mesmerizing Fridas to the sala in our home in Centro. His alluring interpretation of her famed expression and the beaming energy of the work sold itself.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Ricardo (42) had visited San Miguel previously, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that he first “saw it with the eyes of an artist.” He came to do a live painting of a wedding and fell in love with San Miguel. Given his growing tiredness of the bustle and chaos of his beloved Mexico City, he decided to make San Miguel home less than a year ago, and he has settled in quickly, becoming a popular fixture here through his literal and symbolic open door on Zacateros 17.
Ricardo hesitates to categorize his style of painting too precisely, recoiling at the idea of being “put in a box.” He does describe himself as “impressionistic and non-literal, preferring to give language to my paintings for people to digest, using bold strokes and colors to get the expression out of the abstraction as much as possible.” One of Ricardo’s guiding mantras is “Yo pinto” (I paint). He adds “trusting the process” and “going from dark to light tones” as key meditative points of orientation that guide his approach to painting and often to life itself. He has reliably surrendered to these guiding principles during periods of self-doubt or other personal difficulty and openly shares his upbeat sense of gratitude for having done so.
Given that we are still new to San Miguel, we felt especially welcomed by Ricardo’s down-to-earth manner when we first met. We have since enjoyed taking him up on his initial offer to “stop in any time,” and we continue to marvel at his beautiful works, prolific pace of production, and unbridled enthusiasm. Imagine all artists were so welcoming …
Already pleased to have made a new and gregarious friend in Ricardo, my wife and I were further endeared through a recent experience. Last week, prior to receiving our friend Cameron, a very special, kind, and generous fellow on a visit from California, we decided to ask Ricardo to paint his portrait. Knowing that Ricardo could create a wonderful likeness of him from just a photo, we decided to surprise Cameron with this gift. When I shared the idea with Ricardo, he proposed that we take our loving gesture one step further—that Ricardo would hang the portrait on his prized wall of celebrities for Cameron to see on an “unplanned” visit. Ricardo suggested that we pretend that we were not yet acquainted and that this was our first visit to his gallery.
Our shared plan of joyful deception was executed perfectly. After feigning that this was our first-time meeting Ricardo, he matter-of-factly directed Cameron’s attention to his wall of celebrities. While admiring striking renditions of Travolta, DeNiro, Uma Thurman, Matt Damon, Elvis, The Joker, and others, Cameron was suddenly visibly struck—first with momentary confusion, then with sheer gratitude when he saw his own loving eyes wonderfully captured by Ricardo’s magic in blue tones. Even more joyous than the grateful look on Cameron’s delighted face was the sheer twinkling joy on Ricardo’s. We caught a glimpse firsthand how the facilitator of this perfectly timed sharing of friendly hearts apparently abided by another spiritual axiom—that a joy shared is a joy doubled. We had serendipitously tapped into the source of warm and brilliant light that is reflected so beautifully in Ricardo’s paintings.
Yes, Ricardo, tú pintas! (you paint!). And given the vibrant wonder of your paintings and of their soulful origins, San Miguel residents and visitors will continue to be grateful that you decided to trust the process and help us all along our journey from dark to light tones right here in San Miguel.
Ricardo Ortiz can be reached at rikipintainfo@gmail.com or via Instagram @rikipinta.
Sal Guarino
Born in Brooklyn, NY, now settled in Centro with his Mexican wife, Sal brings a rich set of life experiences to the table. “SALudos de San Miguel!” shares his joy for living through a lens of gratitude and positivity here in San Miguel. Sal’s first book “SALutations!” was published in 2018. Contact: salguarino@gmail.com.
