At Tacolicious, we’ve always loved the town of Atotonilco el Alto in Jalisco. Nestled into a picturesque valley just a few hours outside Guadalajara, the romantic little town is surrounded with beautiful blue agave fields—not to mention houses 7 Leguas, one of our favorite family-run tequila distilleries.
When we were in discussions with our resident artist Paul Madonna about what he might paint for our Palo Alto location, we decided to get him and his wife Joen two tickets to tequila country. The couple arrived in Atotonilco on a weekend which gave them a good taste of how the local townspeople wile away a beautiful Sunday afternoon, “sitting in the plaza with their family after church, relaxing and laughing, and watching the kiddos run around and eat ice cream,” recalls Joen.
At 7 Leguas, they got to meet Fernando, who runs the distillery. “He’s an incredibly dear man,” says Joen. “He and Bertha, who has worked with Fernando for 14 years, spent almost an entire day with us, showing us their traditional method of tequila making, including letting us watch the donkeys they use to crush the agave.”
Whether or not it was the tequila’s doing, the wheels of creativity began to churn. Above is a picture of Paul working on the mural, which started out as a hand drawing, measuring 6 x 2 feet. The final mural is then blown up to 40 x 10 feet (and is being installed in the Palo Alto location this Friday). Paul spends hundreds of hours coming up with the vantage point and the concept.
To the final drawing, Paul decided to incorporate a banner of traditional loteria cards that are used for a lottery game similar to Bingo. “The bright and amusing imagery of the cards play off the more somber drawing of Atotonilco,” he says. “The cards all have stories behind them—parables or riddles—and they reflect common stories of life.”
Paul studying the agave
Paul is known for the words he chooses to mix with his imagery. At the bottom of the mural he’s written, we had another drink and as the night wore on he told us his story. “Antonio—Fernando’s driver—adopted us while we were there, joining us every night for food and drinks. We’d sit in his favorite hangouts, and as we ordered another round, he’d tell us a bit more about himself,” explains Paul. “By our last night, we knew the intimacies of his life. Meeting Antonio was as much a part of my experience as any of the streets or views of that little town.” Paul doesn’t expect, of course, that everyone will know the story of Antonio or even Atotonilco. But, as he says, “The power of the phrase is one we can all relate to—the idea of getting to know someone better by sharing a drink and a meal. I think it speaks to the spirit of Tacolicious.”