Illustration

Little girls dress up in their mothers clothes looking to them to see where they came from and help decide who they will be, this is part of what heritage is to me.

And the beautiful culture and history of people in this city makes that idea much more rich.

Ashley Medina is a Graphic Designer from El Paso. Visit her online portfolio http://red0rbluepill.wordpress.com/portfolio/

Color pencil and ink on paper by Lorena Romero Alberto

Lorena Romero Alberto is an artist living and working in El Paso, TX. Her work is a playful mix of line, color and hidden narratives. Overlapping layers distort and reveal, while molded shapes tease the imagination.  Her favorite tools are pencil and paper.

Ink on paper by Oso Astral

This piece represents El Paso and its unyielding urge to expand while remaining true to itself. The soul of our city isn’t defined by one culture, rather by its people and their aspirations.  Opportunities for El Paso require the lifeblood of our community and its desires. I was born and raised in El Paso and Juarez, and I like to paint. The realities and opportunities that I create, real or surreal, are not dictated by me, but rather by the unique experiences of a viewer.

You can find more of my work at:  osoastral.wix.com/illustrations

Mercedes Lopez is an 18-year-old working illustrator and full-time French student at UTEP. She spends her time studying, painting, and participating in art markets and gallery shows.

Check out her online portfolio at http://mercedeslopezart.wix.com/portfolio to see more

I was born and raised in El Paso and have been drawing from the time I could hold a pencil. Because of my broad interests, I liked reading about various topics including the political goings-ons of government, from the local all the way to the global arena. I was one of those weird kids that actually liked political cartoons.

By Nestor Valencia

Global warming is real and it is going to get warmer-alot warmer in the next decades. It is a serious problem that many people are talking about and the facts are staggering.

There are 1.1 billion cars, trucks, and buses operating on the planet today according to Wikipedia. Every year vehicles emit 1.73 billion metric tons (equivalent to 304 trillion pounds) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

That’s equal to burning all the coal in a fully loaded coal train that stretches 304,000 miles, long enough to wrap 12 times around the world. And that’s just the pollution from the 1.1 billion automobiles in just one year, not including pollution from other sources such as airplanes and factories.

And the heat is going to go up. Just eight years ago, in 2004, earth had only 700 million cars. Today’s 1.1 billion vehicles represent an increase of 57 percent.

Compared to other countries, the U.S. has the most number of vehicles, over 250,000,000, with a ratio of about 769 cars per 1,000 people. But China, the fastest growing large economy, is expected to overtake the USA as the largest automobile market on the planet within the next decade. In 2011, a total of 80 million cars were built worldwide, led by China with 18.4 million, the US built 8.6 million, and Japan 8.3 million units.

And something has to move these vehicles. According to the International Energy Agency, today the world produces approximately 90 million barrels of oil per day to keep up the present demand. Multiply the daily barrel needs by 365 days. The total is 32,850,000,000 billion barrels per year. Each barrel contains about 42 gallons of fuel.

Investor Center states that by 2035, it is estimated that the world will need 390 million barrels of oil, per day.

To add to the world pollution problem, the vehicles now on the road discard 2.2 billion tires each year. Tires consume over half of the earth’s rubber production, which, of course, burns more fuel.

In the next five years, almost half of the global oil demand will come from China. China and India will team up to soak up most of the world’s oil production until 2035. But the year 2035 is simply a benchmark. Demand will continue for many years beyond.

Global warming is a reality. Today the world population stands at about 7.2 billion people. It is time for every person to take responsibility and begin to reverse the death of our planet and our existence.

As afraid of death as I am for its uncertainty, I always saw La Catrina as what it simply was, the end of a life. As much as it was dressed up all fancy, with that remarkable hat of hers, the somber thought of what laid under it was horrifying. Even the way it was artistically protrayed by adding layers of white powder and even blushed cheeks was absurd.

An elegant woman with no hat but still rocking that red lipstick. This is my depiction of a modern day Catrina.  Even though time passes, as many other things do, the symbolism stays the same. She is making an effort to still look alive, this time by pouting.  Now, look at her eyes and immerse yourself in the hollow that is inside of her.  As hard as she tries, don’t let her trick you into believing that her heart is still pumping.

Maria Picazo

Rodolfo Wox Rincones is a native El Pasoan whose style is described as Chicano art. He has been illustrating for six years and contributes to the arts through painting, music and drawing.  He claims he can easily execute a project when there is a defined subject matter, “It is easier drawing something suggested, because the central issue of image making is the subject matter, what to draw, but its also easy creating my own illustrations having interest and a point of view,” noted Rincones.

Check out his webiste at wox.squarespace.com to see more

By Nestor Valencia