Al Preciado

Name: Al Preciado

Website: http://alpreciado.net/

What do you do? 
Artist and teacher

Where can we find your work?
Kalied

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
I am inspired by beauty and women. I am inspired by heroic actions and sacrifice

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?  
Technique and finish. Content is important on particular projects

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
Goya, Kiki Smith and Michael Buscemi. I  like his take no  prisoners attitude

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Jerry Maguire. I like his sense of compassion for the athletes

When do you get your best ideas?
Flying in planes, different countries, the beauty of women and nature

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
Paints, watercolors and clay

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
Formally taught. I think the University prepares for a formal critique of your work

What would your creative work taste like?
Tacos and menudo

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
Travel. Movies, magazines, family and friends

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
I had the talent early, but was not confident. Teaching others gave me confidence and helped me develop my work

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?  Don’t be afraid to look stupid and fail. Ask others. Get involved in peer critiques. Draw til you bleed. Help the community and not just artists. If you are convinced you are an artist, you are an artist. You determine if you matter or not. 

What would your creative work taste like?

We thought it would be fun to compile the answers to some of your favorite questions. Today it is the question -What would your creative work taste like? Check out some of the interesting answers below.

Hamburger-milkshakes, beer and peyote - The English Language

Lemon poppyseed cake!  Sweet with just a hint of tartness - Megan Eckman

Coffee & Flap Cats (cornbread pancakes)-Troy Joseph Curtis

A strong dark IPA beer on a hot summer day -Max Dehart

Sushi washed down with the best beer you've ever had.-Kori Thompson

I guess it might be like a chocolate cake with a layer of beautiful glazed fruit on top.- Deborah Mills Thackrey

Hot buttered rum…tasteful,  smooth with a bit of a kick- Joan Tesauro

Bittersweet chocolate. Perhaps it took you somewhere else when you ate it, and you wanted to stay there. - Warren Lain

Fresh produce or something earthy like mushroom- Floy Zittin

That’s interesting. Thinking of how my playing has been described as “ dynamic”, “Artistic statement is powerful” and “Deft virtuosity” I would say that my playing would taste like some strong – yet extremely delicious cocktail! Ha Ha! - Ray Furuta

I have utterly no idea. This is the first “gotcha” question I’ve had in a long time!-Ketra Oberlander
SUSHI -Matt Gonzales

Funfetti Cake with vanilla frosting.-Vida Killz

It would be smooth to the tongue, but spicy when swallowed.- Karen Honaker

Delicious and satisfying, leaving you wanting for more, month after month. -Fernando B. Rodriguez

Beef Bourguignon.  Meaty, rich flavorful, hearty.  At least I hope so. - Jane Peterman

Smoked salmon- Coyote Slim

Sound - Andre Hart

A buffet. There are many different things you can eat and try and experience. There are so many styles in the music I like to create. My art would probably taste like sushi. I draw portraits, and you can expect a clean picture.-  Amanda Mikaelsson   

Pork chops & whiskey.  And no fancy-schmancy shit either - maybe a little apple sauce but that's it.-Jon Landry

Cheerios—I do a lot of work that has the shape of a circle. - Donna Orme

More like what it would smell like…Mr. sketch markers, sharpies, scratch and sniff stickers,- Mike Borja

Sweet , fruity with zesty under tones and some herbal fragrances. - Jane Ferguson

Maybe salty like sweat. Kinda gross, sorta sexy. It might also taste Fergi-licious, so delicious.- Eric Belladonna

It would have texture and taste a little salty with some sweet and sour - Deborah Anderson

I would like it to taste like rocky road cereal from the 80's followed up with an amazing hi-5. But in reality, it would most likely taste like snail urine. - Donny Foley – Donbon

The most fabulous chocolate brownies ever...and you could enjoy the whole pan and not get sick or fat.- Jen Norton

The buffet at Fresh Choice. - Tim van den Berg

Bittersweet chocolate or beets. Sometimes tart cherries. (But it would smell like fall leaves burning.) - Lacey Bryant

Kale, bread and butter, rice and beans, persimmons and coffee. - Frances Marin

Crisp, sweet and has to have a long after taste - Pete Anderson

Some of my paintings are little and sweet. Those ones would taste like mini cupcakes with pink icing. Some of my artworks are a bit darker, like the one shown at the bottom of this page (Peregrine Falcons Hunted Passenger Pigeons). The darker art would taste like black licorice.- Laura Callin Bennett

If you could eat my work, it would taste like ink and wood pulp.- David Mejia

Duh…Chocolate (vegan of course) - Katrina Marie Loera

Well, it's not a food, but I'll say cigarettes (if they weren't bad for you, anyway). Something you take in, which adds some hard to describe, but pleasant thing to your day, and then you let go of.- Todd Elliot

Really good homemade hummus and pita bread, followed by Greek honey yogurt.- Lisa Mejia

In my dreams, it would be as delicious as crawfish étouffée.- Paul Kimball

Blood orange juice and vodka. A bloody screwdriver? -Kim Christman

Like the perfect Cannoli or cheesecake accompanied with the most amazing espresso in the world. A rich complex taste that fills you and gets you excited.- Michael Foley

Bonus Question

Part of our 1 year anniversary  month celebration we asked our past creatives to answer a bonus question. If you had absolutely no restrictions, not money, time, resources, etc. What would you want to create?

Read their answers below, there are some interesting ideas. How would you answer the same question? _________________________
I’d create Temples of Unconditional Love strategically positioned across the globe in tragically misunderstood and under loved areas like San Jose, Detroit, Baltimore, Beijing, DC, Congo, etc. I’d staff them with Vegan Monks who make Belgian craft beer and teach Knit Bombing as a way to overcome the relentless supply of hater-ade this world has in store. - Troy Joseph Curtis

I would create images in my mind and engage the public in conceptual art events by using found objects to alter the environment. - Donna Orme

Teleportation.  It would transform human life & disrupt global commerce/dependence on fossil fuels. Definitely teleportation. -  Ketra Oberlander

I think I would like to create a giant diorama, a minutely detailed world with live actors & plants, painted sets, miniature and full scale components.  An experience for all the senses that would transport a person to a land of fantasy that mirrors our own world in a distorted way.  I'd also like to build a tree house to live in. - Lacey Bryant

I would love to create a very large some what 3D wall image of Red Poppies, like on the side of a building or inside an airport. - Jane Ferguson

I would create something that wouldn't be judged, kicked, or questioned. Something that holds no boundaries or would allow no one to limit me and have an expectation. I'd like to say I do this already, but anytime you create something, you will always be questioned. This question goes further than any artistic piece. If I could, I'd create freedom. - Andre HART

If I had no restrictions on time/money/resources etc., I would want to create a performance piece which would showcase the local world dance and music community (including all the various forms of bellydance, East Indian dance, Polynesian dance, Flamenco, Azteca, Native American etc). I think it would be a great thing for these dance communities to share their talents, and to be acknowledged for it. - Lisa Mejia

I suppose you're supposed to answer this question more grandly ("I'd compose world peace" or something), but…. I've long had this idea of creating small boxes that create slowly varying drones; little handheld objects that produce music for as long as there is power to them-- there are apps that do similar things that I occasionally use to produce music, but the idea of rolling my own, programming it from scratch, and having them custom made really appeals to me. I work on code for it from time to time, and things like the Raspberry Pi and Arduino might be an option to convert my idea into reality, but really, it's a matter of only having so many hours in the day, so much ability (I am a terrible coder), and a variety of other obstacles make it a task which I'll likely not finish anytime soon. Someday. - Todd Elliot

I would want to create a large abstract mural along the side of a building. - David Mejia

If I had no restrictions, time or money, the first thing I would do is get a big quality canvas and a lot paint supply and spend a year or more on one abstract painting. - Jonathan Demers

Since the early nineties I've dreamed about building a giant (maybe 12" tall) seated black Madonna to look over the ocean on the dunes between Seaside and Marina CA. I imagine her made from metal and climbable, I can see children and whole-family photo ops in her lap. Here is a link to a photo of the black madonna that I would use a general template for her design. http://www.flickr.com/photos/9739200@N08/5228240337/ She is a descendant of Isis and one of the oldest deity forms known. - Zoya Scholis

Ohmygosh, with absolutely nothing2hold me back I would have already have on the comic book arket the following titles and stories  1) Aztec of the City---issues 2-6 N beyond)...2) Adelita, the soldadera supreme from the Mexican Revolution of 1920...2) the Super Chicano, and Super Latina..3) Cruz, the Christian Hero...4) Tales of Aztlan: The Jim Plunkett Story, Cesar Chavez story...N I guess of course, Aztec of the City, SuperChicano/Chicana and Adelita action figures.. - Fernando Rodriguez

I'd like to create a better life of domesticity.- Kim Christman

An all analogue Rock & Roll laboratory stocked with all manner of instruments and equipment.  Fully-staffed with engineers, producers, instrument technicians, scientists, doctors, dentists, druggists, chefs, maids, butlers, pilots, personal trainers, midgets, clowns, and a life coach.  Living space for artists, bands, and all other types of productive and creative people.     
With this facility we will produce any and all forms of audio and visual and audio/visual productions imaginable. - Tristan Perotti of The English Language

one answer: Love - Oscar Knutsson

"I would want to create change.  Given unlimited resources, I would want my artwork to legitimately affect positive change in someone's life.  Over the years I've learned that selling a painting is cool, but it's really not that notable an accomplishment in & of itself.  Might make a few hundred bucks, & there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but if I wanted to be in sales, there are a helluva lot of things easier to sell than art.  To me, if I can sit in my room & create what amounts to just a stupid picture, that might look pretty but has no real utility, & auction it off for charity or raise funds for someone truly in need, then that is a supreme accomplishment. That is something I can look in the mirror about & find peace.  To take pencil & paper & as a result a family gets to eat, a sick person can get well, or even something as small as putting a smile on a child's face - that is what art is to me.  Creating an impossible
magic." - Jon Landry

Having been a painter for over 50 years, I would love to change mediums and try making glass.  Glass objects have been my painting subject material for years and it would be full circle for me to make the objects that are my inspirations for the paintings.  Look out Dale Chihuly, here I come! - Karen Honaker

One project I've always wanted to do was create my own comic book. Just a story completely painted and written by me. A long sweeping story something along the lines of Bone, Mage or Cerebus. I've always been a huge fan of comics. I believe they are a very special way of storytelling - Kori Thompson

If I had unlimited time and unlimited money for art supplies, I would paint a mural. I would use colors that would match the other buildings in the neighborhood. That way, the mural would fit in harmoniously with its surroundings. - Laura Bennett

Our 1 Year Anniversary

Its hard to believe that its already been a year since this humble little blog was started. In that year we have interviewed 44 talented San Jose creatives: artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers, Dj’s, interior designers, creative entrepreneurs and more. What is even better is that we already have interviews scheduled out until Jan 2013. There is no shortage of creative talent in the South Bay and we are proud to share it with everyone.

In honor of our 1 year anniversary, instead of posting new interviews this month we will be posting the best of answers to some of our most popular questions. We also asked our featured creatives to answer one additional question: “If you had absolutely no restrictions, not money, time, resources, etc. What would you want to create?” We had some great answers and will be posting them throughout the month as well.

We are also hosting a very special 1 year anniversary exhibit at KALEID gallery this month. We will have 30 artists and 5 bands that have been featured this past year. We really hope you can make it out to see, enjoy and support all of this local talent.