Sugar Skull Stencil Art

In Partnership with LULA Lake Worth Arts
He’s back! Join one of Lake Worth’s most in-demand arts educators, Jose Mendez (a.k.a. R.Dot), and create an original Mexican sugar skull. Sugar skulls, known in Spanish as ‘calaverita,’ is traditionally made of sugar or clay and placed on the altars of a deceased loved one for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) or given to children as treats. Latin American culture focuses on gatherings to celebrate the spiritual journeys of friends and family members who have passed. Dia de los Muertos is celebrated in Mexico, parts of Central and South America, and is now becoming popular in North America.

Participants will use spray paint with a variety of techniques to create an original sugar skull on canvas.

*Supplies are limited; advance registration is required.

About: Jose Mendez began drawing in kindergarten and hasn’t stopped since. Art, electronics and wood shop classes kept him entertained so he went to trade school for auto body and began assisting painters with automobile painting. Five years later he became a painter himself. His creative process was ultimately informed with a trip to Tikal, Guatemala, the ancient Mayan Empire. Jose continued to sketch but decided to make the work permanent with the introduction of a canvas. He experiments with Sharpies, oils, acrylic and water-based markers and incorporates brush work, spray paint and photography. Jose is a Lake Worth resident, a featured artist with LULA and works in a Lake Worth elementary school. The school is his inspiration, support and critics. Parents and children inspire him and he, in turn, models that whatever goal you set your mind to you can accomplish. Jose is also focused on sharing Guatemalan culture that is rich in art from Mayan ruins, clothing, agriculture and the calendar system. Jose has become serious about his work in the past year and has produced over 100 painted canvases.