spent his childhood there, herding goats."There were no kids to play with, but I always had a knife in my pocket to carve. What else could you do but carve?" he asks. At age sixteen he moved with his mother to the San Francisco Bay area, finished high school, then became the consummate hippie. Striving to get his life in order, he returned to Chupadero, worked as a rough carpenter, and while hitchhiking one day, was picked up by Archuleta. Immediately Archuleta set him to work carving animals. What began as a happy apprenticeship turned acrid because of Archuleta's volatile temper.
Jimenez left in 1978, and struck out on his own. The two no longer speak to one another. Some of Jimenez's pieces are truly splendid, some are diluted for the market place. Particularly bright, sensitive and witty, Jimenez admits that he is not living up to his full potential. His ideal, "To make a different piece every single time. If you have to make two of anything, then you've lost it. I want to make what my heart desires:' Another Archuleta disciple is David Alvarez. Born in San Francisco, he was reared and schooled in Oakland. Alvarez states he's been an artist all his life:"Since I was in kindergarten teach-
ers couldn't believe I was so good:'He, too, was submerged in the HaightAshbury hippie scene. Extricating himself, he hitchhiked to New Mexico in search of friend Alonzo Jimenez. Jimenez introduced him to Archuleta, who instantly put a brush and paint pots in his hands, and told him to paint a cottonwood turkey. Alvarez was then nineteen, and a respectful apprentice to his incendiary master. Their four-year association was a success. In the late 1970s, encouraged by Archuleta, Alvarez began to work on his own. While his work is derivative, it lacks Archuleta's macho potency. An eminently
Above left: Leroy Archuleta and his RABBIT;Tesuque; 1985;Cottonwood, 2 x 15'.' Above right: Ron Steve 1 4 x 6/ 1 paint, glass, twine, rubber; 9/ Rodriguez, Felipe Benito Archuleta's grandson. Opposite page: Alonzo Jimenez and his SEATED ORANGUTAN,Chupadero; 1978; Cottonwood, paint, sisal twine;62 x 44 x 34':
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