Art begins with creation through imagination and, for Ray Ochoa, through his motivation to make a living.
Ochoa’s art began with a sponsor who once had worked as an artist and now owns art galleries in San Francisco and Hawaii. That sponsor was the first to encourage him to create art.
“I learned to draw by looking over the shoulders of murderers and thieves,” said Ochoa. “This was my art school.”
Ochoa has a white handkerchief on which he spent more than 30 hours painting over a period of two months. The piece shows Aztecs and American Indians and features multiple warriors with metaphorical images of pyramids and jaguars. Ochoa enjoys art that depicts the cultural activities of his ancestors.
Incarcerated persons often try various methods of achieving mental distance from prison, and Ochoa finds his distance through the soothing and therapeutic creation of art.
Ochoa said his art has greatly benefitted his rehabilitation. He holds himself fully accountable and through his ability to produce quality art, he has found new purpose in life. It has helped him in cultivating relationships, not only with residents but also with the outside community.
Whenever Ochoa does a project for someone, he said, he establishes a solid human connection, which makes it easy for him to draw and to give his best. He said he considers it very important to have effective communication during the process because it makes him more creative.
He recently completed a portrait of a man in a Chevy truck hat standing next to his Camaro, the father of an incarcerated person who has passed away. “The person who I did this portrait for is more than just a friend, and I knew how much it meant to him when I drew his father,” said Ochoa.
A few years ago, Ochoa won first place with the Golden State quarterly package contest. The company awarded him a 15-inch flatscreen television.
In his younger days, he had designed a logo for the Hollywood Film Prop-Makers Union. Thirty years later, the union still uses the same logo.
Ochoa said that no artist should ever take a detour from creating art. Some persons may want to criticize the artist’s work, but criticism should never stop the creative process.
Incarcerated for over three decades, he expects to receive parole in the near future.
Upon release, Ochoa said he would enroll at Merritt Community College to obtain his AA degree for a certification in counseling. Art will continue to play a big part in his life as a hobby
