The Folk Tree

		Pasadena - On December 13, noon – 5 P.M., The Folk Tree hosts a book signing for Mexican artist/illustrator Esau Andrade Valencia. He signs A Perfect Season for Dreaming/Un Tiempo Perfecto para Sonar (written by Benjamin Alire Saenz, English/Spanish, Cinco Puntos Press). American book journal Kirkus Reviews describes Andrade’s illustrations as “done in a brilliant southwestern palette, employing flat perspectives and surrealist compositions to create a visual fusion of folk art and Magritte.” Andrade also displays several original watercolors at this event. His appearance is held in conjunction with The Folk Tree’s 22nd Annual International Nativities Exhibition, which is on view through December 31, 2008.

		In A Perfect Season for Dreaming, an old man, Octavio Rivera, decides to share the nine most beautiful dreams of his lifetime with his young granddaughter, Regina. He decides that she is the only one he can trust with his dreams. She is the only one who won’t make fun of him for being too old or eating too much chorizo. She is the only one who will understand, because she also has beautiful and fantastic dreams. And that sets Octavio Rivera free to enjoy one last long and lovely dream. “In Octavio’s first dream, a single guitar ‘whispering songs of love’ bursts through a star-shaped piñata, and on the second day, two kissing turtles float across a blue sky. With each passing day, the items delivered by the piñata grow in both number and whimsy; as his dreams surround and fill him up…Sáenz’s treatment of reality and his rich, sensory-filled imagery evokes García Márquez. While a counting book in concept, Sáenz’s text is layered with multiple meanings. Young readers will enjoy its structure, numbers and playful dreams, while more sophisticated readers—and even adults—will find reasons to return to it again and again.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Born in Tepic Nayarit, Mexico, Esau Andrade Valencia comes from a family of folk artists, including his mother Guadalupe Valencia and brother Raymundo Andrade. Although still young, Esau is increasingly recognized as a master artist in the tradition of great painters such as Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo.

Andrade attended La Escuela de Artes Plasticas of the Universidad de Guadalajara. His paintings are included in the collections of: The Museum of Latin American Art (Long Beach) and the Downey Museum of Art (California), where he has had one person exhibitions; Chrysler Company (San Antonio, Texas); and The Hispanic Broadcasting Company (Los Angeles). He has had other one-man exhibitions at Galeria Uno (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico); Chac Mool Gallery (Los Angeles); Louis Stern Gallery (Los Angeles); Glass Garage Fine Art Gallery (Los Angeles); Hamilton Gallery (Los Angeles); Tatewari Gallery (Sedona, Arizona); Iturralde Gallery (Los Angeles); San Antonio International Airport; Euroamerican Gallery (New York); Allene Lapides Gallery (Santa Fe); Turner Carroll Gallery (Santa Fe); the Consulate General of Mexico (Los Angeles); among many others.

Author Benjamin Alire Sáenz—novelist, poet, essayist, and writer of children’s books—is at the forefront of the emerging Latino literatures. He has received both the Wallace Stegner Fellowship and the Lannan Fellowship, and is a recipient of the American Book Award. Born in the rural community of Picacho, New Mexico, he now teaches at the University of Texas at El Paso.

The Folk Tree is located at 217 South Fair Oaks Avenue, minutes walking distance from the Gold Line’s
Del Mar Station and right near the heart of Old Town Pasadena.
Regular hours are: M-W, 11-6; Th-Sat, 10-6; Sun, 12-5. For more information AND FOR EXTENDED HOLIDAY HOURS, please contact The Folk Tree at (626) 795-8733 or Gail Mishkin at (626) 793-4828.