Art is everywhere. It enhances our lives, brings beauty into our
homes and often causes us to recall places and events from our
past. Sometimes it brings back cherished memories of where we’ve
lived and people we have known. Occasionally it can define a life,
give birth to a career, bring title to a name; artist.
Art is everywhere. It enhances our lives, brings beauty into our homes and often causes us to recall places and events from our past. Sometimes it brings back cherished memories of where we’ve lived and people we have known. Occasionally it can define a life, give birth to a career, bring title to a name; artist. For local educator and artist Carol Peters, I expect that all of the above is true.
Peters was recently named “Woman of the Year” by the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce. Retired after a 30-year career as an art instructor, she continues to make art come alive in the community. Among her completed post-retirement projects are illustrations for Claudia Salewske’s book, “Images of America Gilroy” and the cougar painting she designed for Christopher High School.
She has also donated her art to the Gilroy Museum, Willey Cultural Center, Christopher High School and Ascencion Solorsano Middle School. Last year, with the help of local high school artists, she spent seven months designing and painting the former Leedo Gallery facade on Monterey Street.
Her Gav TV series, “Carol on Creativity”, is educational, entertaining and inspiring. Peters has served on the City of Gilroy’s Arts and Culture Commission for more than nine years and is currently chairperson of the commission. She is a graduate and past president of Leadership Gilroy and received the Leadership Alumni of the Year Award in 2007.
When I approached Peters to write an article about her she asked that I instead write about the amazing man who inspired her love of art.
Curley Tomey, “Cowboy Artist,” was born in Aromas and moved to Gilroy with his Italian family at the age of 7. A welder by trade, his branding irons were used on most of the ranches in the Santa Clara Valley. He created many original items and is thought to be the inventor of a unique type of spade or snaffle bit.
As a teen he would disappear into the woods and come back with all kinds of game, although he only killed what was used for food and respected the balance of nature. He helped stock the streams with fish and loved the earth and animals.
He was known as a “Water Witch” and was often asked to use his forked stick to identify where to drill for water on someone’s property. Although he never graduated from high school, Curley was a guest teacher at Gavilan College, sharing his amazing knowledge of the earth’s metals. He was a natural and skilled teacher with an easy way of explaining things.
At the end of a workday, Curly would finish his dinner and then go back to his shop in a barn behind his house to create the beautifully designed and handcrafted engraved silver pieces that earned him the reputation of “Cowboy Artist.” Each exquisite one-of-a-kind piece was a labor of love created for the person who had requested it. Championship rodeo riders would drive long distances to personally meet Curley and submit their order.
Whether it was a belt buckle, saddle conchos, bridle, spurs or jewlery, Curley transformed each ordinary functional piece into something extraordinary and beautiful. He sketched freehand designs on the silver with a squared soft pencil and then carved the work with his handmade tools. He made friends with many of his customers who loved the sparkle in his blue eyes.
Curley was also a musician. He played the guitar and sang, often inviting his customers into the house to join him for a glass of homemade red wine and some western songs. He was a full blooded Italian, but a cowboy at heart. He even made a western record with a cowboy band. When he died in 1977, he was referred to as “The Last Blacksmith” in the Gilroy Dispatch.
Not too long ago, Carol Peters was contacted by a man from Idaho whose father had owned a bit/bridle collection. He told her that Curley had come out of retirement to engrave and make his father a silver bridle bit.
The Idaho man traveled to Peters’ house to meet her and see more of Curley’s work. Realizing that her dad was an important artist in the cowboy venue, Peter’s began to photograph and document his work. She recently presented a Power Point program about Alfred (Curley) Tomey for the Gilroy Historical Society. Tomey’s works are presently on display at Gilroy City Hall in the Museum display area.
And now you know the rest of the story.
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February and March Events
– “The Dixie Swim Club”
Feb. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26 at 8 p.m.; Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. at the Gilroy Grange Hall, 8191 Swanston Lane, Gilroy; $18. (408) 337-1599
– Bring -Your -Own Dinner Theater: “Love is in the Air”
Feb 11, 12, doors open at 6:30, 8 p.m. show at Gilroy Center for the Arts, 7341 Monterey St., Gilroy, $18. (408) 472-3292
– “The Vagina Monologues”
Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. at 5055 Santa Teresa Blvd., Gilroy. (408) 848-4860
– “Anything Goes”, teen show
March 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26 at 8 p.m.; March 13, 20 at 2:30 p.m.at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse, 17090 Monterey Road. (408) 842-SHOW
– “Curtains, the Musical” auditions
March 3 at 7p.m.; sign-in at 6:30; March 5 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Adults and teens over 16. Prepare a song, bring sheet music, dress to move. 16840 Joleen Way, F4, Morgan Hill, (408) 842 SHOW
