Charles D. (Carlos) Atencio

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

Charles D.(Carlos) Atencio was born on June 10, 1944 in Laramie, Wyoming. He graduated from Centennial High School in the San Luis Valley and graduated with a BA in Education from Adams State College. He's happily married to Crestina M. Atencio and has four children: Florence, Charles Jr, Lisa Marie, and Richard. He's a retired school teacher who became a County Commissioner in 1996.

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Carlos Atencio is a multitalented artist. In addition to making santos, he also weaves and makes carving knives from deer and cow horns. He took one carving class six years ago at Adams State College. He has lived in San Pablo of the San Luis Valley and resided in Colorado Springs in early adulthood. There he worked as Landscape Architect at the Convent of Mount Saint Francis.

ARTISTIC TRAINING

Carlos initially took a carving class six years ago at Adams State College. Since then, the Adobe de Oro Indo-Hispano arts organization of the San Luis Valley has sponsored santos workshops with Felix Lopez of Espanola New Mexico acting as the master teacher. Carlos learned about traditional methods. Most have either been used for devotional purposes in the church, in his home, or given as gifts to family members.

SUBJECTS AND SOURCES

Carlos uses works from local churches, moradas, and scholarly articles as models for his work. His favorite image and largest work to date is a crucifix.. His life-sized crucifix is placed in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Conejos, Colorado.