Good Times In San Antonio

I must say, I enjoyed my (work) trip to San Antonio much more than I had anticipated. The River Walk didn’t smell like I remember from my last visit many years ago, so that was a plus. Must have had something to to with the spectacular weather last week.

And even though it was a work related event and there was plenty to do, I did manage to get out and shoot some interesting pictures and make some surprising discoveries.

We wrapped up the event at a ranch on the outskirts of San Antonio for the awards banquet. That’s where I encountered this odd fellow…

That’s one tame bull, I tell you what. I kinda felt sorry for the poor thing. But I suppose being a trained bull is one way to steer clear of the slaughter house. *rimshot*

And much like last year, I spent some time with The Irish Contingent which netted me a few more pictures of the gang from Galway who are more fun than a bar full of Irishmen. Speaking of which, here are pictures of a bar full of those same Irishmen plus one Irish woman (and Patrick, who’s Dutch but lives in Ireland).


Jesse Trevino

While in San Antonio I went with a group of co-workers one evening to eat at Mi Tierra. After a great meal and maybe one too many margaritas we decided to walk back the hotel rather than catch the bus or a cab. The weather was quite nice and it was only a mile or so and it ended up being a great decision. It was on the walk back that I noticed the multi-story mural I posted a picture of previously.

In my research to find out more about that piece I learned it was done completely in mosaic tile by a man named Jesse Trevino, a local San Antonio artist who lost his painting hand in the Vietnam war and had to rehabilitate and re-learn to paint using his left hand.

That lead me to read about the two-story mosaic candle depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe on the side of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on Guadalupe street. This was something I decided I had to see and I made the decision to go find it before driving back to Houston.

It is proclaimed to be the largest depiction of the Virgin of Guadalupe outside the Cathedral in Mexico City. It is, in fact, a replica of the Virgin of Guadalupe votive candle.

The detail is impressive!

I’ve taken the time to add a collection of detail shots which you can see by clicking on any of the thumbnail images below.

Guardian Angel

Jesse Trevino’s mural “Spirit Of Healing.”

The impressive tile mural, which is permanently displayed at the Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, is the only one of its kind in the United States. This tallest mural is made with tiles of 70 different tile colors, all imported from Germany. Each panel is cemented and put together like a jigsaw puzzle.

2,000 pieces of tile
70 tile colors
93 feet high by 43 feet wide.