By Monica Morones
Mixed Media Artist Tone Rubio, born and raised in Indio, is not only a talented painter, photographer, and graphic designer; he is a pillar of the community. From organizing projects to being an art mentor to the kids, 35 year old Rubio is setting a great example of what it is to be an artist that helps others and gives back. I got to visit with him in the Raices Cultura Art Building in downtown Coachella where local artists and high school art students were prepping ten giant sugar skulls that will be presented at the upcoming community event Dia De Los Muertos November 1st.
MM: How would you describe your style?
TR: My style is a cross between things I grew up with, how I grew up, and my surroundings. My strong influences are from television, pop culture, combined with hints of contemporary, abstract play on colors, and my old graffiti background.
MM: What is your medium?
TR: My mediums are very mixed, as mixed media as it can get. I never use just one medium in my artwork. It is more like 7 or 8 in any given piece; acrylic paint, spray paint, chalk, charcoal, collage pieces, markers, crayons. Pretty much if it can make a mark, I will use it.
MM: You are a photographer, painter, graphic designer. How did it all begin?
TR: How did it begin…it began literally…from the beginning lol. It runs in the family. My dad comes from a family of 11, and ALL of my uncles carry the art gene. I’ve been drawing or doing art of some form as far back as 5 yrs old. I was that one kid in every grade school class that did the drawings. I used to mimic comics of Garfield, cartoons, and traditional comics. Then I would move on to sports scenes from my Dad’s stacks of Sports Illustrated magazines. I’d draw over and over until I got it exact, or at least I thought it was…and I’d sit there frustrating myself until it looked good to me. Then at around 7 or 8yrs old I saw movies like Wild Style, Beat Street stuff like that. And I thought that the graffiti was pretty awesome-just like any other artist kid growing up seeing that- we wanted to be like RAMO ha! So I would practice and practice my own name on regular line paper. I would do the names of everyone in my classroom for them. I would do this for years until I finally touched my first spray can at age 11 and was humbled really quick. Just like anything in art it takes time and technique to figure something out. I finally got pretty good at the control of the cans to where I felt good enough to go out and do my thing. And I did the graffiti writing thing on a serious tip for a pretty good while. From that first time…11yrs old…to about 20. Once I was into high school though I started thinking more serious about art. My art teacher got me to move more into using paintbrushes and painting. From there I’ve been painting ever since.
The photography didn’t come until later. I was about 23-24. I mainly got a camera at first so that I could photograph my work. But I also felt that as an artist you should be able to pick up anything involved with art and excel at it because it is already in you. I know what my eyes are capable of seeing and that I could do it. A paintbrush is a tool, a pencil is a tool…and a camera is just a tool. It’s the person that takes the photo. As artists we already know stuff like composition, lighting, balance, color tones. So I always felt that the transition to photo wouldn’t be so hard. Like any medium it is just about learning technique. To all other artists out there I recommend picking up a camera and just doing it.
The graphic design came kind of by accident but at the same time by the same principle. My close friend is a computer genius and works in computers and that type of media. He always has access to all these great graphic design programs. I just know the typical stuff that you need to know about computers. I’m not a pro at it by any means. My friend gave me a couple of the programs on CD one day and said, “Take these home, install them, and just start messing with them!” Next thing I’m figuring stuff out and just letting my mind fly and I’ve been dabbling in the graphic design stuff ever since.
MM: Did you go to school or are you self- taught?
TR: Oooh this is a good question! Only because I have my own thoughts and opinions on the term “self- taught.” I’ve been approached with this question many times and I tend to laugh a little at it. I don’t believe we are self- taught. I believe we as artists are born with it. It is part of us, it is in our DNA. When I was a kid I didn’t teach myself to be a good drawer, it just happened automatically because it was already there. I also feel that you can’t go to school to learn to be an artist, you either are one already or you aren’t. I did continue my art education after high school though. And I will say I did learn a lot. But I learned stuff like how to be pushed as an artist, how to be riskier, letting your mind go, realizing that things don’t always have to be exact. That is what my mentors taught me on the next level. You may be born with the talent…but learning the history and the theories of art are just as important. That is what I learned in art school. I took about every art class at C.O.D that there was. I picked all of my brilliant professors’ brains, some who are still there today. Shout out to C.O.D art program! It really is an incredible program to go through and I have no problem saying it is one of the best community college art programs one can go through in this state if not the country. I did the academy of art thing for a few years after that…until I just…stopped. Out of all the things my most humbling experience was….learning ceramics! Learning to center clay will make you rethink your life, lol. Shout out to the brilliant Ron Evans and Tim McMullen, two great ceramics professors from C.O.D.
MM: You work with the organization Raices Cultura in Coachella. What is Raices Cultura and what is your role?
TR: Raices Cultura is a non-profit organization based out of the east valley in Coachella. It’s an organization that creates a space for artistic & cultural expression. It allows the eastern Coachella Valley to have a stronger voice. Raices Cultura is always involved in many public/community art projects and provides programs for students who have an interest in art & higher education. We do a lot of cool stuff out of that dungeon of an art warehouse. I got started with Raices because I have a lot of close friends who are founding members of the organization, and I naturally jumped in to help with the art component of the organization. Any art project that we have going on, I lend my thoughts to help accomplish whatever it is that we need to bring to life. My role with the organization would be as an Art Mentor. We do a lot of work with high school art students. I’m there to help guide their way through projects whether it be figuring out how to create large scale sculptures and brainstorming. If there is something they need help to figure out, I’m there to help them work it out. Or sometimes I’m just there when they need an opinion. I also tend to be the voice of reason for the majority of our projects. In other words…I’m the, “Hey…let’s all calm down and get back to reality” guy. Or the “Reeeeeelax…..it’ll dry and we can paint over it” guy.
MM: You help with the student based installations that they use in the Coachella Music Festival. How did you get started with that?
TR: Yes, Raices Cultura was contacted a few years back by Goldenvoice to be art contributors for the festival and create a large scale art installation. They liked the idea of Raices being a community non-profit involved in the arts that worked with local high school students. The way it works is….this is a student designed installation. The students brainstorm ideas, come up with the designs. We are there as mentors to them. We help them bring their design to life. We help them figure out what we need to do to actually build the installation. And we are there throughout the whole process by their sides guiding the way and making sure things go as smoothly as they can possibly go. The students come up with lots of crazy cool ideas from flying spaceships, giant mushrooms that shoot out water, giant robots…you name it, lol. As the adult guys of the group, we have to remind them sometimes about our budgets and what we can actually get done realistically with our time given. It is such an amazing experience to create an installation for such a high profile event. To see photos on different social media sights of people posing by your artwork really is an awesome experience for me, and I can’t imagine how it feels for the students! It is really awesome every year to be welcomed by the Coachella fest guys, and to have their full support. To say you are a fellow contributing artist to the festival every year is a pretty cool thing to say. And for the students to be able to do something like that on such a big stage is a very cool thing, something they will always remember for the rest of their lives. It is about a 3 to 4 month process of creating, building and fabricating. The end result is always a very grateful, gratifying feeling. We were contacted to be a part of it again for next year’s festival! So this will be our third year in a row.
MM: What do you think about the art scene in the Coachella Valley?
TR: It is growing. It took a while for it to happen, but it finally is. You have little pop up art shows and what not everywhere these days as compared to 10 years ago where you did the same thing and maybe 20 people showed up. You also have people within the community that are taking the initiative and are opening their own galleries, their own art supply shops and are providing a space for up and coming artists. We no longer have to get shut out by certain galleries in certain parts of town out here in this valley. I mean…the whole desert landscape thing is fine and all….but there is real art going on out here and it deserves to be seen.
MM: What do you think we could do as a community to improve it?
TR: The community needs to start realizing that you don’t have to look out of town for good artists. You don’t need to be from a big city like L.A. or NYC to have credibility. The great artists are all right here in our community. Don’t be afraid to give them a platform. I also feel that there shouldn’t be different cliques or circles of artists here. A lot of that goes on here and it shouldn’t be that way. We should all work together as artists and want to collaborate with one another. We are all part of the same grind. If we all work together, help one another, we will all make it together. Being a part of this game for a pretty long time now, you realize that unfortunately things can be territorial, but it shouldn’t be that way and it doesn’t need to be that way. Always be humble. If you are an artist out there, I wanna do something with you.
MM: Tell us about your next event Dia De Los Muertos in Coachella, November 1st.
TR: This is our 9th Annual Dia De Los Muertos event! We create a community based Dia De Los Muertos event, and keep it as traditional as possible. We have altar displays, installation displays, traditional performances as well as musical entertainment. We also have a pop up art gallery component to the event that displays Dia De Los Muertos themed artwork from many local artists throughout the Coachella Valley. It takes a collective effort from a group of dedicated people each year to coordinate this event. I’m the art coordinator. All artists come through via an open call. There is no picking or choosing. Everyone has an equal chance at being a part of the show. We provide a space that night for established as well as up and coming artists to showcase their work together on the same bill. This is a one night event that takes place on 6TH Street in Coachella, Ca. on Saturday Nov.1st 2014 at 6pm! It’s about a 4 to 5 hour event, and it is FREE, so please come on down and check it out!
