ARTISTS SEE IMMORTALITY IN MURAL

The aspiring artists who attend the free painting workshops at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana come from all walks of life.

They range in age from 4 to 74. Some come simply for fun. Others are veteran artists who come to hone their skills.

They meet from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturdays to paint with artist-in-residence Emigdio Vasquez. And the last Saturday of each month, they participate in the painting of an outdoor mural.

“I am not really a teacher; I am an artist,” Vasquez, 46, said in a recent interview. “But I try to show the class how to mix paint and improve their compositions. Part of the purpose is to get workshop participants interested in working on the mural.”

The 8-by-100-foot mural is designed by Vasquez to depict the history of Orange County from its 17th-Century Indian cultures to its current status as an ethnic melting pot and aerospace industry center. Located on the east wall of Bowers Museum, the mural is scheduled for completion in July. (The painting workshops will end when the mural is finished.)

Vasquez, who lives in Orange, has designed and directed the painting of several other murals in Anaheim and Orange. He also creates what he calls “super-realist” oil and acrylic paintings of everyday life found in grocery stores, bars and barrios. His works have been shown at Newport Harbor Art Museum, Cal State Fullerton, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Laguna Beach Museum of Art.

The budget for the mural and the painting workshops will run about $15,000, estimates Paul Apodaca, Bowers’ folk art curator. The California Arts Council awarded $9,000 to the project in August, 1985, on the basis of Vasquez’s mural proposal, Apodaca said. The rest of the funds will be provided by the City of Santa Ana.

“I feel the mural is the most significant piece of public art in Orange County because it is being painted by the people who live here,” Apodaca said. “I think the Bowers is really fulfilling the potential of the institution with this project.”

During a painting workshop, Vasquez moves slowly, and patiently among the participants, offering such advice as: “Try a drier brush” or, “Put a little more ultramarine blue on there.” Occasionally he picks up a brush to correct a contour or demonstrate a technique.

As participants choose their supplies and decide what to paint, the class settles into comfortable camaraderie.

“Emigdio, Emigdio, where’s the viridine green?” called rambunctious, red-headed Dan Shackleton, digging through a box of paints. Shackleton, a seventh-grader, lives in Garden Grove and attends the painting workshop with his mother, Joanne, and two cousins, Jeana Shackleton, 10, and Aaron Shackleton, 12.

“I’ve never done a painting before,” admitted Dan, grinning at his rendition of a jaguar. “This is my first one. I’ve never even seen a palette. It’s a great experience for me. I skipped bowling with my league to come here.”

His mother, a junior high school teacher, first brought Dan to Bowers to help paint the mural. “I was thrilled to be part of the mural and the history,” she said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity, and it’s great to see kids get involved because you know that they aren’t going to get in trouble when they’re involved in something. And Emigdio is so patient and calm and good with the kids.”

“That mural will be here in 100 years,” interjected Dan. “I can bring my grandkids and say: ‘Hey, I painted that!’ ”

Retired truck driver Salvador Villalobos, 69, and former judge Phillip McGraw, 60, share the sentiment.

Villalobos wants his 5 children, 19 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren to see the mural and know he worked on it. “I get a lot of gratification working on this mural,” he said, pushing back his straw hat. “I have more fun now that I am older and retired. When I was younger I had to work too hard.”

McGraw retired from the North Orange County Municipal Court bench three months ago. “I have lived in Orange County all my life, and I wanted to be a part of this mural,” he explained. “Besides, it would be fun to come back with my grandchildren and say: ‘See, here’s what your granddad did.’ ”

Some participants come to the workshops to work--uninterruptedly--on their own art projects.

“I love to paint. I was trained in art, and this has been a perfect opportunity for me to get back into painting,” said Veronica Terry, dabbing at her still-life painting. “I just had a baby and in a small home with an infant, you can’t even really get set up--half the paint would get eaten.”

On a more serious note, she added: “I like it when I see government money go for something that makes a difference to you and me instead of big business.”

Annette Irvine, a grandmother and 23-year resident of Santa Ana, agreed.

“This is where our taxes go,” she said, gesturing toward a box of paints. “Instead of for wars, for heaven’s sake.”

Irvine, who earned an art degree from Cal State Fullerton in 1984, is painting a portrait of singer Bruce Springsteen. “At first, I didn’t know who he was, but he has so much vitality,” she said, laughing and pointing to a photograph of the rock superstar.

Artist Abram Moya, 36, brings his 4-year-old daughter, Stephanie, to the workshop in the hope that she’ll develop an interest in “something that makes her use her mind in the arts instead of computers.”

Several of the children in the workshop already have their sights set on art careers. Noah Apodaca, 11, son of Paul Apodaca, has decided to study art in college. “I am learning a lot from this class,” he said earnestly, bending over his painting of former Angels star first baseman Rod Carew. “I come every Saturday.”

“The class is neat,” agreed Tony Bobb, 12, son of Santa Ana City Manager Robert C. Bobb. He is painting a golfer “because my dad loves golf,” he explained. “I’m more into drawing. Maybe I will be an engineer or something.”

“My dad loves golf, too,” chimed in Daren Borges, 12. “He’s a doctor. My day is filled with art because I take more art classes right after this workshop. But I think I want to be a psychologist or an actor.”