Started my trip from Alameda to Los Angeles along the Camino Real.

My first stop was in Los Osos to visit John Ramos Gallery. 

I’ve followed John for years.  His Mexican beach scenes with taco stands, airstream trailers, Volkswagen buses and road trip scenes along familiar highways from inside woody station wagons have always been a favorite of mine.  I’ve purchased at least eight of his limited edition prints, always from his old gallery in San Luis Obispo.

When I learned John had returned to the area after some five years in Loreto Mexico, I couldn’t wait to make this stop on my trip…. to see his new work and my old favorites and just get my trip started right.  His new gallery is by appointment only now.

I walked up to the gallery and John came walking down the outside stairs.  “Hi.  I’m John.”  I couldn’t believe it.  I’d never actually seen him in person and fully expected to see other gallery staff that would just let me in to browse.  I was flabbergasted.  He’s somewhat of a celebrity given his long-time success, especially on the California coast.  I’m shy anyway in galleries and like to keep a low profile.

John is soft-spoken and very endearing.  He’s comfortable and open, proud of his work and his family.  His granddaughter and dog came in…running around underfoot while his son-in-law’s music was playing in the background (Donavan Frankenreiter).  John was very gracious about opening drawers and showing whatever I wanted to see, but I had no idea what to tell him I wanted… “I WANT TO SEE EVERYTHING, BUT I DON”T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!”  was running through my head.

John asked me if I’d like to see his studio.  I nearly vomited.  (Inviting someone to see your studio is typically a very personal thing to do.  Many artists have open studios, yes, but they prepare for them, establish boundaries around what they’ll show and what they’re ok with people possibly touching or commenting on.  Studios can be messy and sometimes dangerous zones with paint and chemicals flying out onto your clothes.)  John’s studio is this large, 2nd story, glassed-in domain with a small open kitchen.  He had a lime green retro stove, with his grand-children’s paintings tacked on the side.  He was working on an oil of a beach town sunset scene with a Harley Davidson of his old friend who owned Uptown Cafe in San Luis Obispo.

I decided to buy one of his flower market pieces, specifically the one he did of a shop at the corner of 24th St and Dolores in San Francisco. He had no idea what it cost, so he called his wife, Donna, to do the transaction.  Now, Donna and I have a history….

Several years earlier, @ 2005, I visited the showcase John Ramos Gallery that was originally in San Luis Obispo.  I purchased a couple of prints and was having them shipped to me in Phoenix, where I lived at the time.  I explained to the woman running the gallery that I had followed Mr. Ramos for years, was in love with his work and just wanted to know what he looked like.  This beautiful auburn-haired woman asked the other young woman at the desk if there was a picture somewhere.  They had one of him under the desk’s glass top, posed in sunglasses and straw hat.  I said he was exactly how I expected him to look…. a good-looking, Mexican man.  I proceeded to go on and on about what I loved about his work, that I knew he studied at CSU Long Beach around the same time I was first studying art at Berkeley.  I also knew that he had designed the logo for the Del Taco restaurant chain…years and years ago.  They both kept laughing and finally she said “I should probably tell you now that I’m Donna, John’s wife and this is his daughter.”  His daughter then said “I can’t believe Dad has a groupie!”    I received the Dos Mas, Por Favor print in Phoenix and didn’t notice until a friend of mine pointed it out at least a year later that John had written a personal note on the print “To my Amiga Chris.  Wish you were aqui.”

When Donna came down to the gallery to sell me the Flower Market print, she remembered me.  We had a great laugh.

Here is her picture with John as they looked today.  

My favorite painting “Dos Mas, Por Favor”

The Flower Market