There is no Q in Ecuador

Cristóbal is the art teacher at the school where Emily teaches. They ride the bus to work together every morning. For years Cristóbal also had an art gallery in the Mariscal section of downtown Quito and he has become quite a well-known painter in Ecuador.

Emily took us to visit him at his home in the new section of Quito. I had emailed him several months earlier, about the Onda Gallery here in Portland, It is a gallery that specializes in Latin American art and Emily thought he might want to contact them about showing his work.
His home is an older, typically Ecuadorean-style home, surrounded by a lovely walled garden on a quiet, little winding street, tucked away in a busy part of Quito. Inside it is like an art museum, with both his paintings and his collection of early colonial art lining the walls. Beautifully preserved antiques furnish the rooms. We visited over wine and pastries and then he gave us a tour of the rooms filled with his art. He is a soft-spoken, very humble man, but his face lights up as he talks about his students and when he talks about his art.

It was a very special, and very memorable evening. When we left, I took a CD of his work to present to the owner of the Onda Gallery. The owner of the gallery loves his work and there will be a Cristóbal González Guzmán show at Onda this coming September.