“You are visiting El Paso…? No one visits El Paso, people come here for work or to catch a flight – no one stays here”… said a man who first came in El Paso thirty years ago!
“Where are you from?” People kept asking us, as if tourists are few and far between in this part of the world. The truth is, we didn’t see any either. Maybe because it was foggy and rainy and people stayed inside. Or maybe because we only stayed for a day-and-a-half.
What we did see was a delightful Mexican touch, evident everywhere: the food, the people, the history, the culture.
And this house.
In an otherwise dull neighbourhood, close to a busy highway, Rufino Loya Rivas, a Levi Strauss worker from Mexico and his wife Celia, bought a modest house. Deciding he would add a personal touch, Rivas began to carve and paint these intricate designs that soon surrounded the house, spending twenty five years and hundreds of hours of work and devotion to his project.
Art can be found in the most unexpected places.
El Paso, TX
October 12th, 2018
The Humble Fabulist 