Driving west out of town along Route 66, you wouldn’t expect to find an artist’s workshop inside the MCG Equipment lot, yet that is exactly what is there.
Jaime Alamos, also called Jaime the Artmaker, works at MCG Equipment, but he uses his free time to create beautiful works of art — even without being paid for his creations. Intricate wooden carvings, jean jackets with illustrations on the back, dozens of drawings, paintings and even longhorn skulls turned into art fill Jaime’s work area.
Most of the pieces are inspired by Native American and Aztec art, so Jaime’s works have a distinct and bright style, complete with bold patterns, colors and nature scenes.
Travelers on Route 66 can even see some of his art from the road. Jaime took a rock weighing more than 3,000 pounds and sculpted a turtle out of it, and now it sits at the entrance to his place of work.
Jaime,who grew up in Mexico, worked on the sculpture just a few hours at a time, chiseling away at the rock after work and on the weekends. He estimated the piece took between 40-50 hours to complete.
When asked why he chose to carve a turtle, Jaime responded in a thick accent with a simple answer: “Just because I like it.”
While the turtle is eye-catching, perhaps his most-impressive artwork is hidden out of sight. A 10-minute trek from the turtle by the road down into a canyon by Little Deep Creek reveals a striking 7-foot by 10-foot carving. The sculpture is carved into the side of the canyon, and it shows the faces of two Native Americans.
Jaime sculpted the artwork in such a place so when rain comes and the water rushes into the creek, the waterfall which forms from the canyon will flow over his massive sculpture, and his art will not be eroded.
“I was walking here, and I saw this wall and I thought, ‘Hey, I like this wall. I’ll make something.’ So I went to the shop and got my tools and started working,” Jaime said.
Jaime keeps on working with his art, creating new pieces any chance he gets and turning his home into a vivid and stunning gallery.