Episode 73– You can also listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google podcasts, and Amazon Music
About the Episode:
Bunny talks with Kiki Martinez & Suzanne Sakelaris about their stories, their friendship and their part in the Healing with Heart initiative for the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico.
Links
Kiki Martinez Art
Cancer Foundation for New Mexico
Healing with Heart (2023)
2024 Sweetheart Auction
Sweetheart Auction Dream Vacation Raffle tickets
I Love New Mexico blog page
Bunny’s website
I Love New Mexico Instagram
I Love New Mexico Facebook
Original Music by: Kene Terry
Featuring: Kiki Martinez
Kiki Martinez paints powerful, lifesize images of horses and majestic animals. Horses gallop straight towards you while others are quietly peering out with the softest of gazes. Using an old master’s glazing technique Kiki creates a magnificent dramatic effect bringing her horses to life. Kiki’s monochromatic paintings are never flat or opaque, but are filled with an atmosphere penetrated by reflected light.
Episode Transcript
Bunny : (00:00)
Hi there. I’m Bunny Terry, and you’re listening to the I Love New Mexico podcast. Whether you’re a native new Mexican, who’s lived here for your entire life, or you’re just considering a visit, this episode is for you. Join us as we share a lot of New Mexico stories, talk about all things New Mexico, and include topics like what’s magical here, where you ought to visit, what’s happening, and the things you absolutely cannot miss in the land of Enchantment. We’re excited that you’re here, and we can’t wait to show you what an amazing place New Mexico is, because let’s face it, I love New Mexico.
Bunny : (00:50)
It’s pretty exciting today on the, I Love New Mexico podcast because I get to talk to two women that I hold in very high esteem, who have very selflessly given of their time and talent to create something special for the upcoming, um, cancer Foundation for New Mexico’s sweetheart auction. But more importantly, I’m talking today to, to people who are now new Mexicans, um, one of whom is, um, an artist that I’ve been a fan girl for many years. Kiki Martinez is an amazing artist, and you need to go to her website to kiki martinez.com. I hope I got that right. And if not, there’s a link. You did, you did. And watch the, I especially like the PBS piece about your process, but Kiki is paints these enormous animals, mostly horses. I have a large rooster that she painted in my, um, living room, but, um, sort of this larger than life and stunningly beautiful and really unique technique. Um, so I wanna start with that, Kiki, I wanna talk first about your art and then about how you got involved in any way with the Cancer Foundation. Tell us who you are. Tell us, tell us how you ended up in New Mexico, because I know that that wasn’t where you began your career.
Kiki : (02:28)
That’s kind of a long story. I don’t know if we have time for it, but I can, I’ll try to like squash it. Okay. Well, I’m a New Yorker and, um, I met my husband in New York who lived in Santa Fe, and I came to visit him, on a trip because I love Santa Fe. I said, sure, I’ll visit you. And, uh, this is when I first met him and, uh, visited him a couple more times on the third visit. I just never left. I just, basically didn’t even tell anyone I was moving. And, uh, we lived on a small ranch out in Nambe, and he had horses. And that’s, that’s basically how I started painting horses. I started painting our horses and, uh, got a show, um, with a gallery up in, uh, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And, um, basically showed with them for 15 years. And all of my horses just like flew out the door that I painted. And I basically never looked back after that first show I had in Jackson and showed with them for 15 years, like I said. Then I moved here to moved my work down to New Mexico thinking I should be selling my art and my hometown, and started showing, uh, here in New Mexico. And, um, that’s basically how I ended up in New Mexico and started painting horses. So, um, yeah, that’s,
Bunny : (03:49)
And and you have, you have I mean, I can’t count the number of years that you’ve donated a piece, and I, and I want folks to know that Kiki’s pieces are very, um, um, they’re really sought after their, um, highly acclaimed and people, everybody wants one. But you’ve donated a piece for years, haven’t you, every
Kiki : (04:11)
Year. Yeah, I got involved with the Cancer Foundation, um, yeah, quite a few years ago. And, uh, I basically started because it’s, it’s, it’s helping helping people get the access of care that they need. I mean, that was the main reason I was donating every year, um, bringing in dollars to a good cause, but also was my way of giving back to the community. I mean, the, the community’s been so supportive, enthusiastic about my work, and it’s basically launched my work far beyond the borders of the Santa Fe art world. So I’m pretty grateful about that. But the reason I got involved with, well, when I heard about the Healing with Hearts Initiative from my dear friend Suzanne, um, by teaming up an artist with a cancer survivor, I’m like, okay, this is a no-brainer. , yeah, basically, um, my dear friend Suzanne, is a survivor, and I’m so grateful that she’s been able to get the care that she needed to heal, and I just felt that there are so many who are not as fortunate to have the access to get that kind of care. And, um, what I love about healing with the Arts Initiative is that it all not only brings in dollars, but it also, um, makes more awareness to people through love, art, care, community, compassion, um, to help others heal. So I’m pretty honored, I’m very honored to be involved with this, especially with my dear friend, Suzanne. So,
Bunny : (05:34)
So let me, let me enlighten people just a little bit, um, because our other guest is Suzanne Ra, who is not only, um, the subject of this piece of art that Kiki created, but she’s also serving on the sweetheart auction committee. So, and, and Suzanne, thank you so much because you’ve been so amazing on that committee. But talk then, tell us how you got here and if you feel comfortable with it, a little bit about your, um, cancer experience.
Suzanne: (06:08)
Yeah, yeah. So actually Kiki is the one that brought me to the Cancer Foundation. Um, and I had been going to the sweetheart auction as a guest of Kiki’s through, through the years. Um, but then this summer, uh, she brought me to a little event, and that’s where, um, I met some fantastic board members. And, um, they heard about my story, my, my cancer story and asked me if I would be interested in supporting the, uh, sweetheart auction and being on the committee. And I, I jumped at it. I said, absolutely. Um, I was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, five months after I had just married, gotten gotten married, um, for the second time. And, so it was kind of a shock, um, to my husband and, and me. I, um, was fortunate enough I was, I was diagnosed with, um, a lipos sarcoma in my thigh, which is a very well, it’s the type of cancer that if it progresses, it’s very hard to, um, uh, heal from.
Suzanne: (07:29)
So I was very lucky, um, because I had gotten married to somebody who had excellent insurance. I was able to go to MD Anderson. Now, had it, had it been, you know, a year before I would’ve not had I had insurance, but not that great of insurance as a, a single mom who owned her own business. So, you know, when this, when I learned of what the, um, foundation does, I completely felt I, I could see myself in that position needing that support. And so for me, it comes from my heart wanting to be able to do what I can to help people, because I know what it feels like. And so I am also very grateful that I’m a survivor , and as a survivor, as, you know, you want to make the best of what you have and, and give and, and be positive because we have overcome some pretty hard, um, hurdles in life. And I wanna keep, um, giving back when I can and how I can,
Bunny : (08:43)
So the one thing I always want tocnever assume that we’ve got people on this, um, podcast who have listened before because we have a really international audience. Um, so I want folks to know that, um, I am a stage four colon cancer survivor, and also the board chair of the foundation. And the reason, I mean, like you, Suzanne, I was really lucky. I mean, who, who gets a diagnosis like this? And then, um, you know, I’m now in my 12th year of, uh, from 12 years from diagnosis. But, um, you know, we know very well what it’s like to sit in a chair and have somebody say, you have cancer. And, um, and to also know that, um, a for a lot of people, their first thought isn’t, how do I get, well, their first thought, especially in Northern New Mexico, is, how do I put gas in my car? How do I put food on the table? How do I take care of the people I love while I’m in the middle of this awful Yeah. Diagnosis. And so, and that’s what the Cancer Foundation does. I mean, we meet people at their most basic level, and we say, you know what? We’re gonna give you a place to stay when you come to Santa Fe. Um, we’re going to give you grocery cards so that you can worry less about feeding your family and more about getting well, and we also provide some emergency services. You know, if people, if you, if your tires are too bare for you to get to Santa Fe from Taos for treatment, then we’re gonna buy you a new set of tires. And, and what you, the two of you have created together. Um, just so people know, healing With Heart is a, an initiative that pairs and artists like Kiki with a, with a cancer patient, either a survivor or somebody who’s an active treatment, and they create a work of art. And I’ve seen the piece that you created, Kiki. I love it. I want it. So can you, can you talk about that process?
Kiki : (10:56)
Okay. Yeah. It was truly a collaboration, literally. I did the painting, especially for Suzanne. There’s a lot of meaning behind it. There’s a a, an amazing story behind it. I don’t know if we have time . Absolutely. Well, you know, since, since Suzanne is mainly responsible for this skull series that I created that became very successful was all her idea. And we could, I would love for you to tell the story. We pulled a thumb on Louise many, many, many years ago, way before she, she had cancer and we were raising our children together and, um, needed to get away. Yeah. And so you can take it from there. Okay. I mean, this, the, uh, because you are responsible for, so this collaboration that we did, so I’ll give a little color to the story. Yeah. Um, Kiki moved to New Mexico from New York. I moved from London.
Suzanne: (11:48)
We both lived in Nambe on ranches. We, I had two little ones. She had one little one. And we were like, we’re prisoners of . That was our . We gotta get away. What did we realize? This ? And, and, and so, so I had to, I had a little detail. I hadn’t driven a car, ’cause I lived in, uh, London for so many years that when I knew I was moving back to America, I’m like, I need to get, um, a vintage 500 XL convertible. Um, and so I did. And we took that car and had the top off, and we drove up to Taos. Now, interestingly enough, we stayed at Dr. Tim Lopez’s and Rhonda, Dr. Flex’s house, because they’re Who’s an oncologist. Yeah. Yeah. Well, oncologist, well, she’s a radiation oncologist and he’s an oncologist. He’s my oncologist. Mm-Hmm. . So he’s my uncle via my first marriage. And yes. So he, he let us stay in his condo. Yeah. So this was years, years, years ago. And, um, we , we were in the hot tub, drinking champagne, looking at the stars. And Kiki was like, oh, man, I gotta paint so many commissions. I’m like, oh. And I said, wait, wait, wait, wait. She’s like, there’s just so Yeah, . No, no. She, she was excited, but she was like, I’ve got so many commissions. And I said, but you know what would be really fun and interesting? Have you ever thought about doing something more abstract? Like you’re, you know, ’cause we’re out in the southwest, what? But you know, with your technique, wouldn’t it be cool to do skulls? And then we just, we were, then I came home and started painting skulls and she did. It took off. She did. And I have two of ’em, .
Kiki : (13:43)
But one, one of the things that she didn’t have was, um, a bull. A bull. And we’re both tauruses. So that, so that’s part of the story, part of the meaning of the painting. Yeah. But the flower. So that, that’s the part of why, it’s, why it’s a bowl and, um, a skull. And it’s a skull because we collaborated on just that idea years ago. But then the rose, I added roses to it, you know. Well, the roses on the skull. Here are the roses that Kiki gave me. Well, tell the story first, then they’ll understand the roses I gave you. . Well, I still have ’em. Tell the story about the novina. Well, yeah. So, um, I, I was raised Catholic and, um, my mother taught me as a little girl, this prayer to St. Teresa, the little flower, when, you know, you want to pray for something that’s very serious, not just, oh, I want a new dress. Um, she, um, taught me this and I memorized it. And I had, this was about 12 years ago, I said, A novena for something very specific. Mm-Hmm. . And when you finished the novena, a a a rose shows up in your life, unexpectedly out of the blue. Well, the day I finished the novena, Kiki showed up at my house with 12 red roses. And Yeah. And I have them, I kept ’em for 12 years. But what you were praying for did come, but yes. And what I prayed for came, um, and so I guess, you know, in sharing that with her, because when she gave me the roses, I told her that I had just finished in Novea, and we burst into tears. We were like, oh my gosh. She’s like my, she’s like my angel. She’s always been my angel . So,
Kiki : (15:36)
Well, we’ve been best friends for a long, long time. We raised our children together, practically. We’ve known each other 20 years. And that’s why I’m so grateful. She’s okay. You know, and, and, and so this painting is for Suzanne that I did. And the roses represent. I did three roses on the skull and one’s a pink rose. And that represents, um, beauty, um, gratitude and joy. And then the red rose in the middle of the skull is, uh, represents passion and love, of course. And then there’s a yellow rose, uh, representing friendship. And, um, so basically I did this painting for Suzanne. I think it was a true collaboration. Um, I loved painting this painting. It was a slight departure from what I’m, I usually do, it is my, um, conventional technique that I’m known for, uh, in painting.
Kiki : (16:31)
But, um, the departure was doing color. ’cause I’m a monochromatic painter. I usually just do basically one color. Um, and it’s small, which is very unusual for me. I usually paint life size or bigger. And, uh, yeah. I just and it’s, I just really enjoy doing this. It was, it was the whole, the whole time I was painting it, I felt, I thought about Suzanne and I’m really proud of it. And it was a lot of fun to do, and I’m happy to donate it to an incredible cause. And, uh, yeah. I think this will be fun. I think this, this will be a fun event for us to be involved together with. Yeah. You know?
Bunny : (17:11)
So when you told that story, because I was a single mom with two kids, and I know that the thing that sustained me through all of that was my female friends. I, you know, I’m sorry, I, I wouldn’t say that now because I’m married to the best guy in the world, but I you know, men would come and go in and out of all of our lives. And yet, when my kids were babies and, and, and a little older, I lived in an apartment complex where the women, we would sit around in the courtyard of this huge complex on, uh, you know, on blankets in the grass with these toddlers. And, um, we, uh, that was sound Familiar. .
Kiki : (17:56)
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
Bunny : (17:58)
That was, so when you were talking about her coming first with the roses, and then when you were talking about the process, Kiki, I got goosebumps because it feels like this, like the same thing that I did. The women who sustained me over time, and who really, I mean, not just, uh, we didn’t just survive cancer, Suzanne, we survived that crazy life Yeah.
Kiki : (18:25)
true.
Bunny : (18:27)
Of making Other lives
Kiki : (18:30)
That’s right. Yeah.
Bunny : (18:31)
You guys are gonna make me cry, but, um,
Kiki : (18:33)
I know I I mean, if you, if you just thinking about it, it’s like, oh my God, how did we, how
Bunny : (18:40)
Did we do it?
Kiki : (18:42)
I don’t, yeah. Life is long. We do it. Yeah.
Bunny : (18:46)
Well, well, and we do it because we don’t do it alone.
Kiki : (18:51)
Yeah, that’s true. We, we did it together. We really did. Yeah. We were great support through the years for each other. And we still have Christmas together Yeah. With the kids and, and how beautiful that we’re doing this, this is sort of a, yeah. A huge comment on our relationship.
Bunny : (19:08)
So, so we’re, um, we are going to, with your permission, um, on the podcast show, and may we show an image of what, what’s going to be?
Kiki : (19:20)
Sure.
Bunny : (19:21)
I think, I think, yeah. I’m sure people are Dying to see what this looks like.
Bunny : (19:25)
people able to go to the website and see what this looks like. I’ve seen it. And it’s amazing!
Kiki : (19:29)
There some of my skulls on my website as well, some of my other skulls I did, I did mostly African animals. That was the initial series. I did a Red Deer skull, an Orx Skull, a Mountain Goat skull, um, a Kudu skull. And they’re all huge. They’re gigantic paintings. Um, but Suzanne said, you haven’t done a bull skull yet, and we’re Tauruses, and, you know, so it was really a collaboration. Yeah. We put our, our heads together on this one. And, um, yeah. So this is my, my newest skull painting. Mm-Hmm. for the foundation. Mm-Hmm.
Bunny : (20:03)
. And I would tell people, I would tell our listeners that the Sweetheart auction is on February 10th at the Santa Fe Convention Center. And it is, tickets went on sale yesterday, I believe so. Um, we, it, it’ll sell out. It sold out last year. It’s really the largest event. I’m so proud of it. It’s the largest event.
Kiki : (20:26)
Yeah, you should be. I mean, you, you work hard. Everyone works hard. Yeah. I have seen it over the years, so. Well, and it’s,
Bunny : (20:32)
It’s worth, I mean, we sold out last year, about two weeks before the event. So if you’re listening, go to the website at CF FNM, which is Cancer Foundation for New mexico.org, and grab your tickets and yeah, it’s a lovely event. And then you will get to see the piece that Kiki and Suzanne created to gather that they collaborated on, to celebrate Suzanne’s survival and to honor the people who are still in the middle of it. I really gave me a chill when you said that you went and stayed at Tim Lopez’s, um, condo. Because I mean that I, I want people to realize that New Mexico is still a small community. Tim Lopez was my oncologist when I was, and, and, um, my husband, who’s a contractor, and we weren’t together at the time, remodeled his and Rhonda’s kitchen. And so there’s just this tiny little I know, I know that remodeling very well, by the way. It’s so New. Mexico is such a tiny community, and it’s so, um, you know, people say it either, you know, embraces you or spits you out. And it has obviously embraced the two of you. And I hope that you’re gonna be here forever. It’s a great community. It is. It’s, it really is. So we raised our children here. Mm-Hmm. . So I’m gonna see you guys before the auction because I’m gonna, we’re, we’re gonna get together, but for sure, yes. Everybody else can see you at the auction. And thank you so much for doing this. Thank you for giving your time and your talent and your heart to this cause that we all love.
Suzanne: (22:15)
Well, thank you for having us.
Kiki : (22:16)
Yeah. It’s an honor. Mm-Hmm. .
Suzanne: (22:18)
Yeah. We are honored to be a part of this.
Bunny : (22:21)
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