Photos by Ramón Hernández

Dr. Arnulfo Tarin Carrasco was born to take people out of their misery, that is to find a cure to rid people of their pain; and the proof is in the dual subject of each of his weekly television programs.

His show airs each Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. on the Fox-TV network and if you like reality programs, you can’t more be real than the Dr. Carrasco Pain Show because it is based on actual true real-life cases where the subjects of his Emmy award winning program are one, the patient and two, the source of the pain.

In fact the Kermit, Texas-native won his first television Emmy award for the appropriately titled episode, “Gatter (Changing how You Perceive Pain).” In addition, other episodes have received a total of seven Emmy nominations in other categories.

One can also view all previous episodes online at www.drcarrascoshow.com.

Television programs are filled with hundreds of fictional doctors and dozens of shows with a hospital setting. Then there are genuine doctors such as Mehmet Oz, Sanjay Grupta and Travis Lane Stork that are media personalities and they touch the surface of many medical subjects. But compared to them, it is this writer’s opinion that Dr. Carrasco is the real thing.  He is the Latin Hemisphere’s answer to Doctor’s Kildare, Ben Casey, Quincy, Trapper John, Doogie Howser and Marcus Welby, to name a few, all rolled into one. He is el doctor del dolor.

The show follows each patient from the initial consultation to the ultimate result being the elimination of his, or her, pain – proof that anyone can be healed.

Remember when David Robinson hurt his back? The press never mentioned where he was treated, but for the record, it was Dr. Carrasco that put an end to his pain.

Dr. Carrasco says of his rare specialty, “People come to me after they have seen doctors that do a quick fix and are still in severe pain. Too many people talk about solutions while I believe in problem-based work so I can achieve maximum pain relief. Pain is a people’s problem and the main thing is that I give people hope.”

The standard routine he follows is obtaining his patient’s detailed medical history followed by a complete physical description of how it happened, when it happened and where it is plus find out what medicines they are taking.

“There are three kinds of pain, but the way to treat each one is different,” the acclaimed pain management specialist said. “So I compare all the results and review the lab work for a diagnostic study of x-rays and MRI’s to arrive at a differential diagnosis in order to determine the cause of the pain and the most logical solution.

“Pain and the suffering can destroy families, but it can be relieved and families can be restored,” Dr. Carrasco said during an interview at the 15,000 square-foot La Hacienda de Salud, a place of comfort, not just injections, which is also home for his medical spa and the Carrasco (multi-disciplinary) Pain (management) Institute where patients get the feeling of healthcare with dignity and respect.

“The problem with feeling pain is that people wait until it become unbearable and requires medical care. Years go by and the body begins to swell, the joints began to hurt and it gets harder to regain the independence that was once taken for granted. It’s at this point in life that new sacrifices must be made. Where you accept the reality that your parents are no longer here and it’s time to receive the love you once gave without hesitation. It’s about faith in the face of time.

“My show is also about the human element, about people, about love and caring for each other. We’ve all had things that happened. You know, I didn’t expect my father (Leonardo) to die at the age of 49, but it happened,’ he continued.

The most unique feature of Dr. Carrasco’s show is that it is formatted and shot in such a unique way that he presents the viewer with the problem. Then the viewer’s began to see the patient and procedures thorough his eyes and thus the audience becomes him. He also inserts a cliff-hanging statement before each commercial so that the viewer will not want to change the channel, but watch the program from the beginning to the end. And they’re all true stories.

“I want people to know that they too have hope; and that it is not about needles, injections and therapy, it’s about compassion. Sure, we have to make a living, but do it from the heart first. If you don’t, then you’ve failed yourself.”

We cannot say that he is the foremost pain control specialist in the world, but billionaires who went to the Mayo Clinic or saw who were considered to be the best pain doctors in France and Spain, ended up flying here in their private jet to finally get healed.

“Yes, I’ve treated people that drove here in a Ferrari, but I have also treated people that took a bus or walked to my office,” the expert in pain said of his patients.

“I specialize in those suffering from pain and it does not matter what your financial or social status may be, no one is immune from ever-suffering pain.”

Giving a hint as to why he may have entered this field, the anesthesiologist, television personality, producer and director said, “I remember coming home from school each day and seeing my grandmother (Liberada Ponce Tarin) in pain and I would rub her knees with Vicks mentholatum and there’s a lot of grandmothers in the world, or other people’s grandparents, parents, sister or other sibling suffering like that; and no one should have to suffer like that. So in a way, my family taught me how to care for people.”

Flashing back to his humble beginning, Dr. Carrasco is the second of ten children born to Leonardo and Evangelina Carrasco. As a kid he loaded hay from the fields to barns in the Texas Panhandle for one dollar a day, later worked at a grocery store, at a gas station, did some plumbing and all phases of construction work.

His education after high school continued at Midland Junior College, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso and a four year residency at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a multispecialty academic medical center regarded as one of the top hospital in the United States and one of the largest private medical centers in the world where kings, princes and other world leaders have gone for treatment.

It was at the clinic’s world’s most renowned residency program, where Dr. Carrasco saw patients as he trained for his rare specialty in the school known for its long list of medical “firsts,” cutting–edge technology, outstanding patient care and leadership in Graduate Medical education, hence, coupled with his intense passion, why some of his patients consider him a savior.

“Now I’m a damn good doctor, but we are doctors, not God,” the very spiritual Dr. Carrasco said as he acknowledged the ultimate healer in the universe.

“When all is done, I tell the patient, ‘You came to me for an opinion. You have this and we have a plan to cure your pain because I can do these things, but you don’t have to do anything’ because the ultimate decision is yours.”

Case by case, his thought process can be witness with amazement, fascination and awe in each Dr. Carrasco Pain Show and that is what is so appealing, so intriguing, so entrancing and what pulls the viewer in and glues he, or her, to their television set.

Afterwards, one cannot help but think of a family member, friend or co-worker who is in pain and they tell themselves, “I’m going to recommend they see this doctor.”

“I am so passionate about each project that my technical state-of-the-art studio becomes my home, so I’m at home when I’m shooting because I live in a world of creativity.”

Dr. Carrasco’s caring attitude and down-to-earth charisma coupled with the intimate setting of his studio set makes audiences feel as though they were at home.

“My thing is giving back to the people.”

When one attends a Dr. Carrasco Pain Show taping, everyone receives a pin to wear. “The pin is an iconic symbol in which the green swash
represents ‘health,’ the deep purple, hope and the gold with a sliver of red represents healing.’

“Whether you or someone special is undergoing physical, emotional, or other challenges in their lives, this pin is a reminder that you are not alone, and you can truly overcome all obstacles.”

At the end of the taping, Dr. Carrasco ends with a question-and-answer session during which the audience addresses their own ailments, or those of a friend or someone else in their family. In answering their questions in great detail, the audience as a whole learns something new and one can see the excitement in Dr. Carrasco’s face as he brings medical enlightenment into their lives.

“I want to set an example. I want to be the person they come to for answers. I want to be a teacher and serve people less (medically) educated of what is important in their lives.

“I hope to impact people through my advocacy of medical education and I wish to live a long, long life being a servant and caring for people.”

Plan to be a part of the audience and perhaps be a part of his Medical Challenge with Dr. Carrasco game show and win a massage, a $400 Botox treatment or perhaps a 32-inch flat-screen television set. There’s also a drawing at the end of the tapes and prizes include tee-shirts, massages and Botox treatments all you have to do is call his office for the next taping date.

Then you can see yourself as a part of the studio audience at a later date, during one of his Sunday Fox 29 shows at 8:30 a.m. This article is strictly on his show, however, there is also his Pain Project, “Mind Dance,” his upcoming full-length movie, his facilities and of course an archives of previous past shows at www.carrascopaininstitute.com. Once there, click on episodes, scroll down the page, pick a program, click on it and voila – you’ll become a Dr. Carrasco fan.

Start out with “In Sickness & Health,” “Sincere Gratitude” or “The Life I Chose” and you’ll be hooked to his Emmy Award winning program.

Best of all makes plans to personally meet Dr. Carrasco after the taping of his next show on Saturday, December 1 at 1 p.m., so mark it down on your calendar. For more information call (210) 614-4825.

Photos by Ramón Hernández

Roger Zamudio Guevara’s story is one of hopes, dreams, goals, inspiration, overcoming obstacles and achievement.

It is the story of a small child who lived at810 Guadalupe   Streetwhose playground was the Alazan Creek a few yards to the West or the Union Pacific railroad tracks a less than two blocks to the east of his parent’s house.

To anyone that saw his parents, José Martinez and María Guadalupe Guevara, they appeared to be as any other Mexican family who settled inTexas. However, Guevara’s paternal forefathers, the Basques, Zamudio’s and the Guevara’s, who come from a long line of very smart people, migrated from the northern part Spain to Mexico where they settled in Saltillo and Guadalajara Mexico respectively. His maternal grandmother, was fromSan Luis Potosiand during the Mexican Revolution she travelled toSaltilloand then toNuevo   Laredowhere a German family arranged her marriage with Juan Zamudio.

The Basques for those that do not know are said to be “the first European early modern humans also known as the Cro-Magnon descendants of the first émigrés, from theFar East– the first people on earth — but that’s a story all unto itself.

“InMexico, my grandparents owned business, had money, dressed in white and rode carriages on Sunday’s,” Guevara said during an interview at the Hispanic Entertainment Archives.

But just as the mass exodus of thousands of wealthy business owners fromCubatoFloridaduring the 1960s, Guevara’s family left everything behind when they fled the Mexican revolution and settled inSan Antonio.

The prominent attorney’s father was born in a caboose and graduated fromSidneyLanierHigh Schoolwhere one of his teachers was future congressman Henry B. González; and then, along with his brothers, fought for their country and ended their honorable military stints as decoratedWorld War II,KoreaandVietnamveterans.

After his call to service, Guevara’s father and the father of La Prensa newspaper’s publisher, Tino Durán — who lived in the 1100 block ofGuadalupe Street — went to work at Randolph Air Force Base.

For those not familiar with pachuco jargon and gang boundaries,Guadalupe Street is considered to be the core of the Westside. Therefore, Guevara was reared in the heart of El Hueso, then the roughest part of town.

But he was too small and too busy working, since age five, to realize its dangers. Or perhaps it was because he, his father and brothers had a newspaper route and they had to get up early to roll up and throw the San Antonio Express-News at four in the morning.

On weekends, Guevara went to the King William district to sell fruits and vegetables off a truck in small baskets walking from door to door.  Thus, he and his siblings learned the value of a dollar earned and they never complained because it was like a game to them.

“I was an uninhibited happy-go-lucky child,” Guevara recalled. “Some of my cousins lived next to us and others across the street in the Alazan Courts. So our families would get together and that kept us united and happy. For fun, we would crawfish in the creek or ride the trains a few blocks down to the stockyards.

“Sometimes we saw heroin drug addicts riding the box cars and the drugs were all around us, but God kept us from all harm. Other times we saw stabbings at Josefa’s and other cantinas, but the happy memories were seeing vendors walking down the street selling pan de dulce or, ice cream being sold from a horse drawn carriage.

“At J.T. Brackenridge Elementary, I was very curious and had such a thirst for knowledge that I was always asking questions; and I always wanted to read and learn more.

Fearing the peer pressure the boys would face as they got older, around 1966 the family moved to a safer neighborhood between Christ the King Catholic Church andIraOgdenElementary Schoolwhere Guevara’s sixth grade teacher was Miss. Garza went to Guevara’s parents’ house to convince them to purchase a set of Encyclopedia’s for Guevara.

“It was better than getting a brand new bike,” the famous lawyer said as he flash a contented happy smile.

As any child that craves a better education, Guevara says, “I always wanted to go to Catholic school, to be a Boy Scout and to go to military school, but my mother explained why she could not when she told me, ‘If I do it for you, then I would have to do it for all of your brothers.’ So I wound up going to Washington Irving Junior High where some kids wanted to take away my lunch money and I fought back.

“Then, if they saw you were good at fist fighting, they’d want to recruit you for their gang; and back them guys would run after you and throw rocks at you just for being in their neighborhood, so yes, I joined a gang just so I could go through their turf to go see my girlfriend.”

Furthermore, if you spoke English, you were considered to be a queer (now called gay). And if you saw a youngster with a bulge in his pants, he was probably packing a gun. In Guevara’s case, what protruded from his clothes was the strongest weapon a man can carry, it was always a book he hid to avoid the ridicule of his classmates.

From early on, his father saved Guevara and his brothers from getting in with the wrong crowd through sports such as Pop Warner youth football and coaching their little league team, and in 1968, Guevara, made it all the way to the national playoffs in Pop Warner Football. In that same year his father as President of Prospect Hill Yellow Jackets, being three games away from going toWilliamsportPennsylvaniacancelled a game inAbilene,Texasbecause no Motel would allow the Mexican-American All Star Team to stay in to play in the Regional Game.   Later their father had them playing soccer and varsity baseball at Fox Tech.

In spite of being shielded from the neighborhood violence, when Guevara was 13, he witnessed his first injustice from atop a tall tree he climbed to find out what drew a sea of people to a commotion.

“The people’s view was blocked by the flares the police had put around the detained person, so people could not see because of the glare. Then, an ambulance comes and parks next to arrested person and I could see the police, who were Anglo, hand cuff this Chicano and then start to beat up the guy with a Billy stick. Then they threw him into the ambulance. I had seen a crime committed by the people that are supposed to uphold the law and I could not believe it.”

At 16 years, Guevara’s leadership qualities also came to light when he was elected as an officer of the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America when he was taking Cabinet Mills at Fox Tech.

As a teenager, Guevara was going to catechism when he started to doubt if there was a God. However, following a freak accident that ended his hopes for a career as a professional baseball player, he underwent a near-death experience and saw the light.

“When that happened I realized that I paid the price for doubting God and now I give him all the honor and glory to God” Guevara said. “I saw my dad kneeling down and praying for me in the ER for the doctors not to amputate my leg.

His dreams shattered, he graduated from Tech in 1973, he wasn’t sure of what he wanted to do, until Arturo López told him how to obtain a grant for college through Project Stay; and after taking every conceivable subject at San Antonio College for three years, where he was a member of the Mexican American Student Organization, MASO and Mecha, he went to St. Mary’s University. There he encountered a serious case of discrimination, from a British professor.

This only made Guevara more determined to become an attorney as he said, “God, these people are not going to do this to me again and challenged the professor.”

“I saw a lot of injustices as a kid and I guess it was just a calling. When God saved my leg, I became so appreciative, so grateful that I could walk, that I wanted to be an attorney because that’s what God wanted me to do and because I believe in the truth.

In 1980, Guevara graduated from St. Mary’s University and moved toHouston, where he worked for a law firm as he went to law school. After he got his license in 1985, he came back to the Alamo City to help and provide good quality service to his people.

Two months out of law school, Guevara took a labor law case all the way to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (one-step below the Supreme Court).

“Then I went into taking personal injury cases because I could relate to my client’s pain and suffering. Those were turbulence times in the police department and I took on numerous cases of Latinos that were the subject of police abuse.

“Guevara tried a case to a jury of this young U.S. Resident from Mexico who was beaten handcuffed by two private security guards. Several witnesses testified on behalf of the young Mexicano.  The jury was made of nine Mexican-Americans and three Anglo Females and the verdict was 11-1 against the young Mexican.  Guevara was heartbroken.

“This made me think of the times when teachers used to put down our people and they would try to instill an inferiority complex by telling us we were slow learners, lazy and dirty when we are hard-working people and very intelligent. The one juror that was on the young Mexican’s side stated that from the beginning of the jury deliberations the three Anglos were against the Mexican stating “he is from Mexico and he brought it upon himself.” He concluded that the Mexican-American jurors were intimidated by the three Anglo jurors, that it was due to our upbringing and I had to forgive and move ahead.

“As a lawyer, I also learned of the legal corruption that derives from political connections and contributions.”

In 1997, part of the price in standing up for his client’s rights after winning a unanimous jury verdict resulted in someone driving up to Guevara’s office and opening fire, but that does not stop him for defending the oppressed and blue-collar workers.  Guevara represents the Cesar Chavez Legal and Educational Foundation spearheaded by Jaime Martinez and has seen the hate mail that goes along with defending our people.

He has also taken cases involving Deceptive Trade Practices against banks and mortgage companies, Product Liability cases against manufacturers, auto accidents, family law, and criminal cases.

“I take cases not only to proof innocence, but also to seek justice. So today, Guevara continues to be a fighter, but he uses his litigation skills to fight against injustice.

“I consider myself to be a litigator. I litigate cases and no matter how big or small a case is, I give my clients the same amount of effort.  I want to provide people good representation and I want to give quality service to the people that deserve it, but I won’t take a case that will require me to be unethical or immoral, I just can’t do it.”

Guevara is such a good litigator, so honest and a champion for the underdog, that there are many who have suggested that Guevara run for judge or other public position.

Asked for his greatest accomplishment, the 57-year-old attorney answered, “Just being a lawyer. The bottom line is that I want justice to be done and when I can win for a client – that’s my reward.”

As for the writing skills of this StreetTalk Magazine columnist, Guevara said, “I’ve been writing since I was in college, keeping diaries, writing memos and other. I’ve always liked and have been interested in writing and history because my grandmother gave me history through her own eyes and that made me want to learn more about our history and I took it upon myself to take my findings and Congressional Records at St. Mary’s University and educate other through my column.”

A primary example is Guevara’s most recent article on the “First Thanksgiving,” a fact that has been verified and acknowledged by historians and scholars, yet our text books have yet to be changed – most likely because it occurred in El Paso, Texas and not Plymouth Rock.

For more information, go to www.guevaralaw.net. To make an appointment, call (210) 431-0551 and Guevara’s law office is at 3114 W. Commerce Street in San Antonio, Texas 78207.

Photos by Ramón Hernández

Paola Edith Davalos has a voice to rival any existing established Latino diva.

This writer has heard so many vocalists interpret the hits that made them a household name throughout the Latin Hemisphere and sometime around the world, singers such as Andrea Bocelli, Rocio Durcal and numerous other singers that give their listeners goose pimples with the beauty of their voice, so it’s not every day that this callused writer is impressed.

Hence image my surprise and what is also going to be your surprise when you get the first opportunity to hear Paola sing live and as near as three feet away where one can see her face  express the sadness, passion or happiness – for now – in the intimacy of her parents north side restaurant.

“My maternal grandfather played violin and my mother, who come from a family of all girls in San Juan de Los Lagos, Jalisco, likes to sing, but that’s it,” Paola said during an interview at San Miguel Restaurant, which is owned by her parents, Víctor and María Davalos.

Paola, who will turn 17 on November 15, also hails from a family of all girls and she is the only one that loves to sing.

“As I was growing up, I once saw a couple of mariachis on TV and I liked the sound and at eight, my parents enrolled me at the Wesley Community Center, which had a mariachi program. Then my mother started looking for places where I could sing with small mariachi groups.”

Paola showed such promise that an out-of-town music producer was brought in to supervise the recording of her first compact disc in 2006.

“At twelve I joined a church children’s chorus that specialize in vocalization because I didn’t know how to pitch, how to raise my notes. It was then that I found out that I was a soprano as we harmonized and our more than thirty voices were like different instruments in an orchestra. It was beautiful because we sounded like birds happily chirping.

“It was also that first year that I was one of the three finalists in a contest held by the Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza. I didn’t win, but the experience reassured me that singing mariachi music on stage and in front of an audience was truly my ultimate dream and passion; and I decided that I would be singing for the rest of my life,” the songbird continued.

At thirteen, Paola entered Wheatley Middle School where she learned to play guitar in their mariachi class.

“I picked the guitar because then I would be able to make my own music and write my own songs. This is also the year that I recorded ’13 Años, 13 Éxitos’ and last year; Global Business Entertainment released ‘Para Siempre.’ And now I’m working on my fourth, the 16-year-old warbler said.

This year alone, Paola opened for Mariachi, Tecatlitlan de Rubén Cardenas and Mariachi Monumental de América de Juan José Almaguer at a Mother’s Day Festival in Oxnard, California and was also featured in Diva Tú Magazine, but she takes it all in stride.

Asked how she has managed to balance school, extra-curricular activities, recording and performing, the Brackenridge High School Junior said, “My family has been very supportive. They have guided me in every way and I couldn’t ask for more.”

A little known fact is that last year, Paola underwent a very serious surgery and that she is lucky to be alive. In regard to this, she said, “I believed my life was over, so I thank God every day for another beautiful day that I am keeping strong with my faith and for his gift of music.”

Paola is only 5-feet-3-inches tall but her powerful yet soft voice is that of a diva and her heartfelt vocal interpretations are that of a woman that has lived it all.

Her “Para Siempre” CD is a treasure to behold and one that fans will listen to over and over again for the sheer pleasure of hearing her voice, which she is now honing with voice lessons from Michelle Quintero.

Paola’s forthcoming CD, which will be released by Hacienda Records, features proven hits by Rocío Dúcal, Juan Gabriel, Roberto Carlos, Marco Antonio Solis, Jeanette Rivera and others, yet she makes all her own with banda and cambia arrangements. And going into new genres also reflects Paola’s musical growth.

Her mother, Maria, continues to guide and manager Paola’s career, but Tony Gadara, formerly with Telemundo, is now her booking agent.

To see Paola in action and wonder at her voice, one has only to go as far as the San Miguel Restaurant at 6211 San Pedro Avenue and across the street from Telemundo when she performs, there on-and-off from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information call (210) 264-2198 or 475-1109 before she becomes famous and her bookings will be at a premium.

Photos by Ramón Hernández

To say Evelyn Viegas makes do with what she has is an understatement, especially in her paintings, with she produces with her makeup and other sources.

To understand the why, Viejas took us back to her childhood when she never had a doll; or simple things that children in the United States take for granted, like crayons.

“I didn’t even know what a doll looked like,” the January 28 birthday girl said during an interview at the Hispanic Entertainment Archives.

“So I would sketch cartoon-like images of dolls based on how I thought they looked like. However, this was not in the traditional way since my first paint brush was a stick and my canvas was the earth beneath my bare feet.

In fact the Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico native says she didn’t see a pencil until she entered kindergarten school.

“I wanted a doll so bad, but my first toy was a tiny red piano. So I would draw dolls all over the school walls, my teachers would tell my mother (Juanita), she would scold me and I stopped. But when I got the urge, I would start drawing on anything I could find,” Viegas continued.

By the time she reached the 9th grade, all her teachers and classmates were aware of her innate talent and she was called on to do a drawing for the cover of a locally published book and Viegas chose to do a black and white drawing of a dove.

After she graduated from high school, she went to work for the water board. She saved every penny she could. Then she took her saving and pooled it with those of her mother and Viegas, then twenty, opened a small school supplies store.

“Because the town was so small and we were so isolated, I still didn’t even know of the existence of canvas, oil and acrylic paints. And I wanted to paint in color, so I began painting on paper with lipstick, eye-liner, mascara, rouge and eye shadows.”

Thus Viegas learned to improvise to fulfill her yearn to paint in vivid colors and her subjects now included pastoral scenes and when asked what she used for green, she said, “I used green eye-shadow for grass and leaves.”

In 1988, the young attractive artist sold her school supply store and moved to San Antonio. After two years of doing odd jobs, she had since stopped painting and had enrolled in a local beauty school.

“I didn’t paint anything else after I left Mexico. I put that part of my life behind and I told myself that I would resume after I matured, but after my daughter, Ruth, was born in 1997, she inspired me because she made me remember my infancy.

“I was now a hair stylist and this is when I began to experiment with creating new works of art using different shades of hair color. And I started by replicating known painting, but using hair colors. The most colorful ones were done with make-up.”

Next the 40+ year-old artist added rose oil and all types of chocolate, including white chocolate, to her color palette.

“Don’t forget I’m an Aquarian,” Viegas said. “So I utilize the elements of earth, wind, fire and water – I mix dirt, mud, clay and/or Holy water. For the fire element, I use a match to melt the different materials in order to blend them together. And air to dry the combination of ingredients.”

This is what makes this innovative artist so unique. In addition to her special concoctions, she has also created a special paint that looks glittery in a dark lit room and within the paintings; there are almost-hidden images that give each work a certain mystic.

It is said that the apple does not fall far from the tree and now her daughter Ruth has make it clear that she wants to be an artist. In this regard, her mother says, “I don’t want her to be a painter because the major of them are struggling artist. That’s why I have a trade to fall back on.”

While she would love to exhibit and sell her works of art, the full-time Dora Lopez Beauty Shop hairstylist says she can’t afford the cost of leasing a venue where she can display her art.

“It’s not really the money I seek; it’s the satisfaction of inspiring other to be creative. To teach people that they can make do with anything by improvising.”

Her latest unique paintings are those of La Virgen de Guadalupe and she hopes they can be displayed at the San Fernando Cathedral during their December 12 celebration. One, which looks like a charcoal drawing but it, was actually done with chocolate.

For the record, Viegas’ artistic talent extends to being the former television co-host of “Aficionados del Barrio” and now being a master artiste when it comes to hair.

For more information, readers may contact Viegas through her agent at (210) 693-1597.