It all began when Ana Tolere closed her eyes. There was another world out there, or "in there". Wherever it was, that other world began to emerge through Tolere's paintings. "The first images were of birds with crowns and a sleeping lady.
"At the time I didn't understand them. ‘We're always with you,' they seemed to say," she relates.
The first experiences occurred in a workshop with an artist who placed blank newsprint over glass covered in brown paint. Using the fingers, with eyes open or closed, an image forms which remains unseen until the paper is lifted. Previously untrained in formal art, Tolere found that forms, such as hands and faces, came through with unusual trueness to form.
"This work was only in brown, but the depth of feeling from the heart gave power to the images. Artist friends were surprised and I felt encouraged to do more."
Tolere began an independent workshop series combining experiential therapy, depth psychology and meditation. The experiences with painting led her to focus more on creativity. It was then that an undiagnosed illness, viral in nature, attacked her brain.
"The images were gone, I had no recall. I became as a very little child, open to everything, but unable to do anything that I had been doing."
A dream vision led her to a doctor in a remote coastal hamlet who helped Tolere rehabilitate her body and restore lost brain functions. She was sent to Mexico to heal.
"I found the healing I needed for so long in being with the Concheros, a dance tradition that comes from the Toltecs. The rhythms, the beauty of the music, the humor and devotion of the dancers all brought me back to life in a new way."
For five years, Tolere danced, learning to channel her energy for the day-and-night festivals until one day a relapse affected her legs.
"When dancing was no longer possible, the urge to paint once again started to come through. I began by writing about my healing experience with the dance. In the fall of 2000 I worked extensively with a curandera in Ajijíc who used flower essences. The feeling began to return to my fingers. My photographic memory started to reappear, and eventually I was able to see images again and hold them in my mind."
"I now paint both ways, with eyes open or closed, it isn't about that anymore. But what comes through is from another realm. It's a link from different domains. There are divine beings that really are there. It's multi-dimensional; the expression is through color and perspective. I paint in watercolors and oil pastels, in a wide range of styles. There are giclé prints available of most of my work."
Ana Tolere exhibits in Ajijíc, Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta. Call her directly at 766-2414 in Ajijíc for specific dates and locations.
