The Andy Marquez Gallery

Andy Updates

Leo — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 20:05:37 +0000

I am writing on behalf of Andy and Teresa to provide some updates concerning Andy and the gallery. They have a lot going on right now and asked me to provide these updates on their website.

Today, I am going to update you on Andy and his situation. Later this week I will address the gallery’s changes.

In April, Andy had emergency stomach surgery. Following the surgery he was stable, but remained in ICU for a while. It turned out that Andy had to have two additional surgeries. All three surgeries were within the span of ten days. Having to deal with the three surgeries and the additional medical care, Andy’s body was weak and he ended up getting ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome). The ARDS began shutting down his lung and kidney functions. Because of this, the doctors put Andy in a medically-induced coma and placed him on a vent for six weeks. Gradually, he became more awake and began moving better.

Following the improvements, Andy was moved to a nursing care rehab facility. Eventually, his dependence on the vent diminished slightly and he began breathing without it a little more. While Andy still remained on the respirator, he was showing signs of increasing health.

In mid-June, Andy’s health continued to improve to the point where he was released from the respirator. The doctors also removed the trach tube. He still remained in bed, but began to eat some regular food and was starting to talk about doing some occupational therapy/physical therapy.

Andy started working on walking up and down the halls of his rehab facility with a walker. The staff also been helped him him walk up and down stairs so he could be well prepared when he comes home.

A few days ago, Andy had to return to the hospital.

Andy’s return to the hospital appears to be a temporary setback and the doctors do not believe any surgery is necessary, they are keeping him in the hospital for observation.

I hope that updates you on Andy’s condition. As I get more updates from Teresa and Andy I will post them here and on their Facebook page.

Southern Spring Show

Andy Marquez — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:31:32 +0000

On February 26th, 2010 I will be heading east from Denver to exhibit at the Southern Spring Home and Garden Show in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is the 22nd time I’ve driven the 1600 mile journey through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee and finally into North Carolina. Twice on this trip I’ve blown transmissions. Weather’s always an issue. But I come to
North Carolina because of my dedicated clientel there and lots of friends I’ve met over the years. Also the Zimmermans., who run the show, are great
people to work with. See you soon Charlotte !

Red Cross Event at Gallery

Andy Marquez — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:41:54 +0000

Being a international photographer and someone who has seen much of the world’s beauty, I feel much sorrow about what has happened in Haiti, so I feel like I would like to do something to help. Recently I contacted the American Red Cross here in Denver and on Thursday, Feb. 11th we will have a special event here at our gallery. I have hundreds of photographs that have been in the files, some for years, that are not part of our regular inventory. So I decided to mark the prices down drastically and give about half of the money taken in to help those affected by the devastating earthquake. We’ve lined up Strings, Opus and Quijote’s Restaurants here in town and we’re getting some food provided by the Colorado Sports Association for the event on Thursday. So please join us, and you may find some hidden treasures in this photographic collection.

Photographing the Grand Canyon and Sedona

Andy Marquez — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:22:19 +0000

My apologies for such a long break in between blogs. My first visit to the Grand Canyon was on my very first photographic trip in October 1984. I revisited the area in the early nineties, but haven’t been there since. I am in the early stages of planning a next book, a southwestern adventure. It should be a great one, but may not be out until 2011.
After cancelling a trip overseas, we decided to do a shoot back in canyon country. I had sucessfully photographed Bryce and Arches
in Utah and Canyon de Chelly in Arizona last April. Thoughts of returning to the Grand Canyon have been with me for a while. Well, the time had come. We left Denver on Sunday morning, the 18th of October and drove to Moab, proceeding to Arches National Park, where we hiked up the 1 1/2 mile trail to the Delicate Arch for sunset. However the light was blah as are my photos. Monday afternoon we arrived at the Grand Canyon to a cloudless, blah day. Tuesday’s weather report was for a system coming through in the afternoon.
So it did, and the canyon came alive. I have two new shots from there that I will be releasing for the holidays. One is called “Deep In Twilight”. However, my favorite two shots of the trip came from
Walnut Canyon and Sedona. Returning to Denver, we stayed in Santa Fe and I captured two great new door photos that will be in the collection. The gallery premiere will be Dec. 9th and a special sneak peak will be held in Charlotte, N.C. on Friday evening, November 20th at the Southern Christmas Show at the Park.

Bigger family/ Roxborough Show

Andy Marquez — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:24:51 +0000

Many of you knew that our daughter Leanne was expecting. Well, on Thursday,
June 4th, 2009, aat 2:58 PM, Leanne gave birth to Jude Jackson Marquez. A big boy, he is,10 lbs. 13 oz. and 22″ long. This is our first grandchild. We’re very proud of our daughter.

This weekend I’ll be doing my annual show at Roxborough Park. This year it will be at JP’s Bistro in the Safeway Shopping Center. On Friday, June 12th, I’ll be releasing a new Roxborough photograph called “The Land We’ve Come To Know and Love”. If you’re in the area, stop by. The third weekend in June, we’re going back to Parker, to give that festival another try.

Successful few weeks

Andy Marquez — Wed, 13 May 2009 23:18:07 +0000

I must say I was thrilled with the success of our 25th Silver Anniversary
Celebration at our gallery the first weekend of May. With an amazing 30% response to our invitations, our sales were better than I’ve seen in many months. The new canyon country photos were well received. We gave away four gift certificates to Donna Schaeffer, Barbara Knelfec, Dave and Fredda Fisher and the grand prize going to Darrell Schmidt. So now we are into our 26th year and it began with our fourth return to the Wichita Book and Art Fair in Kansas, and once again this show turned out to be well worth the trip. I’d like to welcome aboard our new Wichita customers, especially Sue Wiechman, Ryan Atchison and Maury Edwards. This weekend and third weekend of the next five months we will be participating in Parker’s Art A La Carte taking place in their downtown area. This seems like it will be a great time. For the 11th consecutive Memorial Day weekend, we will be in downtown Denver for the Arts Festival at the Pavillions. This show has made some major improvements in the past few years since a fellow artist, Jim DeLutes took it over. If you’re in town for the weekend, come on down ! It’s great that summer is almost here, the economy seems to be improving and people are beginning to feel happy again. I’ll be announcing an upcoming trip before too long. By the way, Teresa and I are going to be grandparents very soon. Our daughter, Leanne, will be giving birth to baby Jude within the next couple of weeks. We’ll let you know .

Photographs of Bryce Canyon

Andy Marquez — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:46:09 +0000

Two of the photographs I took at Bryce Canyon on the Thursday before Easter are,
I feel, two of the best landscape shots I’ve done in my career. I picked the negs up from my lab last week and I was thrilled with what I saw. They came out better than I expected. Once again I stress, the anxiety and exuberant feeling of using film is part of the art of creating great images. In addition to the two from Bryce,
I have selected two shots from Canyon de Chelly and one from Arches National Park, that I have been tryiing to get for seven years. At last ! I could not be happier with the results.

When will I release the new images ? On May 1st, they will be released to the general public to see at our gallery in Cherry Creek North. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 1st, 2nd and 3rd, we will be hosting our 25th Silver Anniversary Celebration at the gallery featuring the new images from canyon country. They will be presented on canvas, and are available in any size canvas and in photographic prints. If you’re able, please join us.

I think back to the beginning. Our first show was the Houston flea market in Texas. The fee for the show was $20. We sold a print of the Galveston surf for $25, and we were on our way. For those who don’t know, we remained in Houston for the next year, then in May of 1985 moved to Colorado and since then have done almost 800 art shows, and have had our galleries in Littleton and then Cherry Creek since 1992. Photographing in 32 counties and six continents has been way more then I would have ever dreamed on that hot day in Houston, 25 years ago. It’s also a very extraordinary feeling knowing that the images I’m about to release are some of my best.

Photographing in Canyon Country

Andy Marquez — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:07:06 +0000

After two weeks of trying to head west for a shoot in Utah, I had to cancel twice due to weather forecasts. So, I decided to combine my desire to photograph again with a show I’ve done annually for the past six or seven years in St. George.
The festival takes place Easter weekend, on Friday and Saturday. I left Denver on Monday, with a decent drive over the Colorado High country in my van. Arriving in Moab about 5 PM, I checked into a hotel and had dinner. A bit before 6, I headed into Arches National Park, picked up an annual parks pass and proceeded. It was two days before a full moon, so I tried to work it into a picture, but wasn’t satisfied with position and light. The next morning I awoke at 5:30 and drove to Canyonlands, pulling up once again to the Mesa Arch trailhead. There in the parking lot was a tour bus. It didn’t bother me, because I’ve successfully shot the arch 3 times already. I scouted around for something else to shoot, but didn’t take a single one. I returned to the hotel, checked out and headed south on 191 to Chinle, Arizona, home of Canyon de Chelly. After a late lunch at a fast food Chinese restaurant, I gathered my gear and began the 1.2 mile hike down into the canyon, destination the White House Ruins. I had a difficult time getting down the rocky trail. I still have a hard time stabilizing myself at times. The thought of going back up this steep climb was scaring me. Anyway, I got to the bottom and successfully photographed the amazing ruins there. Shadows came in from a direction I didn’t expect, so the brilliant sunset light wasn’t there, but I’m sure it’s a fine picture. When I was done shooting there was hardly anyone left. Now I had to make the dreaded climb back up hauling all my gear. A young man in a 4×4 offered me a ride for $40. I thought about it quickly and offered him twenty. He accepted and took me for a ride along the river bed working, his way out of the canyon. Glad I made that decision, since I was unprepared without a flashlight. The next morning I took some shots of the river from an overlook that
was breathtaking. Packed up my goods and headed for Bryce Canyon, back in Utah where I was expecting to shoot at sunrise, but decided to give sunset a try. To my pleasant satisfaction there was great light and a fury of picturesque clouds. This may be my best Bryce shot to date. The next morning I awoke early and decided to head through Zion en route to St George. I was there at sunrise, but frankly speaking it was a rather boring start for the day. I took a couple of shots for the record of being there. At the Zion entrance, I stopped at Michael Fatali’s incredibly beautiful gallery and had the pleasure of meeting the man, himself. A very brilliant photographer. Then onto St George, did the two day show
with moderate success. On my return trip, I stayed again in Moab, and may have taken a shot of Arches that I’ve been trying to get for many many years. I pick my film up tommorrow from my friends at Reed photo and I’m really confident of three strong images from Canyon de Chelly, Bryce and Arches. These will all be premiered at our 25 year Silver Anniversary Celebration at the end of the month. Stay tuned. Info to follow !

“Craig Hospital and the Great Wall of China Shot”

Andy Marquez — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:47:24 +0000

This is such a great story I thought I’d share with you. For those of you who don’t know this, I was severly injured in 2004, when a motorcycle ran me down while I was out walking in my neighborhood near my home. My recovery and rehab took place at Craig Hospital in Denver. Without the extraordinary work of the specialists at Craig, I wouldn’t be here today doing what I love to do. Through dark days, I began to recover. My neuropyschologist, Dr Jim Berry challenged me one day to a pick a place in the world I always wanted to photograph and do it within a year of the accident. I chose the Great Wall of China. My research gave me two options,
Bandeling and Mutianyu, both within a couple of hours from Beijing. Searching through guide books and the internet I found Bandeling was closer and more easily accessible, but more commercial. So I chose Mutianyu. Pictures I could find on the web showed rolling hills. I left Craig Thanksgiving week of 2004, going home on a walker, occassional wheel chair and crutches. Thank you Dr. Alan Weintraub for your extraordinary work in healing me. By Christmas it was all cane. Further research informed me that it was alot of steps to the top, perhaps as many as 1,000. So I began to climb steps, first ten, then fifty and finally by the summer in Steamboat, 500. I booked the trip in September, my good friend John Steineger would join me. John and I had previously journeyed to Cambodia and Thailand together. After a long miserable flight we arrived in Beiing.
We spent the first day checking out some of the sights in the city, we had dinner and early to bed for the next day would be our trek up the wall. We awoke to pouring rain at 3 AM. After slight hesitation we began getting ready for our car and driver, who met us just before 4 AM. Through the rain we headed for the wall, where we arrived just after 5 AM. The rain had stopped for all but a very light drizzle. We found the beginning of the steps in the dark. It was very foggy,
and all we could see was a few of the steps that disappeared into the fog. A very erie sight. Looking at the steps, I could see they were big. My heart sank, since they seemed larger than a normal step and I knew I had only done 500 previously.
John looked at me and said “C’mon Andy, we’ve come all this way”. And so with can in hand, we climbed and we climbed, passing 500. How could I possibly not continue, the Great Wall of China was getting closer with every step. After 792, we made it at last to the top. The fog was still thick, but we were there. Sunrise might happen at any time, it was 6 AM. As we stood on the Wall in awe I could see the ball of the sun rising through the mist. I said to John, who was facing me,” look”. He turned to me and said, “no, you look, Andy”. I turned around and saw glorious peaks shining with the first light of day. Later I read that John had written in his diary “Andy was in Heaven”. Within 15 minutes, I fired off 5 rolls of film. I was so blessed with an amazing sunrise, and so came the picture “Journey of A Lifetime”.
Four plus years later,on March 5th, Craig Hospital honored me as their featured artist at their annual Push Dinner. This is their major fundraiser event of the year.
Due to my show in Charlotte, NC, I was unable to attend, but my beloved wife, Teresa, and our friend, Kim, were able to attend. They sat at the same table with none other than Dr. Jim Berry. “Journey of A Lifetime” was used on their beautiful invitation and program. A 30 x 40 canvas of the photo was auctioned off for the hospital, and who got to take the piece home ? Non other than Dr. Jim Berry, which personally
thrilled me beyond words, coming full circle. Thank you, Craig Hospital, for the amazing work you do for all who suffer from brain injury. Thank you for making me whole, again.

Many Thanks

Andy Marquez — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:23:06 +0000

I would like to take the time to thank my many loyal customers who turned out for our event this past week. It was so good to feel the excitement of my collectors at the show. Almost everyone who attended went home with something, either a picture or a book. And yes, Jan did show up when we first opened and purchased that coveted # 3 of “The Inward Journey”.
I don’t know for sure but she probably competes with another big collector of mine, Bob Walker, for the most #3s owned. Thanks again to my customers ! I’m thrilled and grateful.

Saturday night my wife, Teresa, and I attended a benefit dance for Jesus Our Hope Hermitage in Deer Creek Canyon. We donated some photographs and books, and raised some good money for a worthy cause, and I was proud to be part of it. Once again, there was hope and excitement in the air.

On March 5th, I will be the featured artist at the annual Craig Hospital Push Dinner. I am so honored to be asked to do this from my friends at Craig. I love you, guys.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend that event (Teresa will go) because I will be driving across country to attend my 21st consecutive Southern Spring Home and Garden Show in Teresa’s home town of Charlotte, NC. Every year weather can be an issue on this one, so we’ll pray for clear skies.

If you’ve gotten here on our web-site then you’ve had the chance to see “The Inward Journey”. It’s available in many sizes and price ranges.

Be well, my friends!