Welcome to La Corua 
digital art from a Sonoran heart.

My Tucson

I am a grandmother, artist, former horticulturalist, and social justice advocate  devoted to honoring life in the Arizona Borderlands. Rooted in a vanishing Sonoran folktale, La Corua** pays tribute to the rich historical heritage of the Pimería Alta, community and culture. I retired from doing business as La Corua years ago, but I continue to keep the mythical namesake alive through my artwork,  old and new. I hope to add  more materials, resources and commentary to my work going forward.
My work is all digital, created on my Mac. Some of my work is intentionally hyper-realistic, some is more design oriented. It depends on the subject matter and the spirit of what I try to capture. I paint with a mouse. I chose digital mediums because they are versatile and infinite. 

My art is not available for sale. It has always been my primary intent to use what talent I may have to lift up and honor others -- I share my work now solely as labors of love made visible.

Puro Tucson

First, it must be said that an enormous swathe of the Southwest belonged to the Tohono O'odham people-- from South in Sonora, Mexico, to Central Arizona just north of Phoenix, west to the Gulf of California, and east to the San Pedro River. This region was known as the Papagueria and was home to the O’odham for thousands of years. Tucson began as a small O'odham village on the west bank Santa Cruz  River named Chuk Shon-- "Black Base"-- for the black rock that covered a small nearby mountain. When Padre Kino and  Spaniards established missions there, the name evolved into "Tuc-son", as they were best able to pronounce it. (The pronunciation would evolve again into "TOOsahn" to accommodate the English language.) The black mountain for which the original village was named is now known as Sentinel Peak, "A" Mountain.

The spirits that watch over Tucson's Birthplace, ("A" Mountain) shown here are:

• I'itoi , Elder Brother and creator of the Tohono O'odham people. He is represented as the famous "Man in the Maze" basket design.  He brought the gift of Himdag, "The Way" guiding people to live in balance with the world and interact with it as intended.
  
• La Virgen de Guadalupe / Tonanztin , patron saint of Mexico, also revered as Queen of the Americas. For Tucson, the Virgin of Guadalupe is 'Our Lady'.

---

En Memoriam
A collection of works honoring asylum seekers
(My largest single project)