Today we’d like to introduce you to Cal Duran.
Hi Cal, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Thank you to this land that is Colorado. To the Indigenous natives of this land and the Ute, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Navajo, Hopi, Pueblo, Zuni, Iroquois, Apache, Tewa, Dakota, Lakota, Mexica, Mestizos, Manitos, Azteca, Maya, Inca all the earth keepers who sacrificed and loved this land I honor you through creativity and heart. Any Natives I have forgotten thank you for your devotion and sacrifice for this land. Aho
Art for me was a way to escape, my childhood. Was a way to find where I came from, was a way to hide in the colors of my imagination. I found art early. Spirit guided me and I listened
I am a local artist and Educator teaching at a nonprofit called DAVA providing youth free art classes and stipends for 28 years. I believe art can change the world, that all of us are interconnected, interweaved and when we embrace each other and trust that creative spark we can raise our vibrations into this world and make it into a better place.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Art has many struggles; the art world is full of competition and ego. But if you stick to your passion and spirit and create from the heart it is a smoother road.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Thank you for the beautiful woven rainbow tapestry of all the indigenous tribes and people.
I am an artist and Educator that specializes in harnessing the power of the creative imagination to connect with Spirit, Ancestors, and our Divine consciousness. To use the power of art to connect our linages, to see how trusting our intuition, releasing parts of ourself, using color and our senses gets us closer to the other realms. I mainly work in Clay, I adore clay as it is the oldest medium on this planet. It holds all the sacred elements, Earth, Air. Fire, Water. It has the ability to be a conduit to connect us to our oast abd connect us to our future, to help us remember. I am mostly known for my Goddess sculpture I work deeply with the divine feminine.
I am most proud of being able to teach our next Generation how to use art as a safe space, a place to always go to when we need to heal, express, and find our hearts.
We are all equals, we all have special gifts and abilities, we are all vessels of beauty, and light at least in the eyes of Spirit. What I focus on is healing myself. Healing my generational traumas, to see the duality in our shadow and our light. To listen deeply to the linages and tribes in my bloodline. To show up to the imagination to grow and be better for myself and others. To hold love above fear and see the beauty in everything and everyone.
What were you like growing up?
I was a sullen boy. Always on my own looking up into the sky, climbing trees, drawing in the dirt. Playing with rocks, running in the rain. Hiding in corners, drawing on walls, making lil’ altars. Finding art was my way to go beyond myself and that felt right.
Contact Info:
- Website: Artbycal.com
- Instagram: @volarduran
- Facebook: @CalDuran
