BROWNSVILLE, Texas – On the seventh day, she drew herself. Well, no, that has not yet happened, although someone else drew her and we hear she was not pleased. We arrive here this muggy, late-September Sunday morning to throw some shade on Nena Barton, wife of amateur blogger Jim and, herself, an amateur caricaturist. She’s been at it for months, capturing local politicians and city celebrities in poses that, well, might boggle someone’s imagination. The caricature atop this post is supposed to be a rendering of former Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos.
We believe she has not only availed us of another look at the judge, who is now the secretary of state for the State of Texas, but the good Nena has given Cascos a certain Jewish face, turned his feet and arms into some grotesque deviation from the norm and dressed him in clothing better suited for a farmworker on the make. It’s called “poetic license,” so it stands. Really, looks more like actor Tony Curtis than the politician Cascos.
Nena has drawn some praise, however. This from local blogger Robert Wightman, the disbarred lawyer who we might say is likely better suited for remarking on courtroom furniture than on art: “Nena, a true artist captures the eyes and soul of the person through the eyes. Some of yours scare me because the eyes so capture the person.”
It is a convoluted statement from Wightman, but we’ll run with it. Indeed, Nena’s “art” is not the work of a professional or trained artist; these are more flirtatious drawings that allow for both the artist’s failings and the viewers need for a cheap laugh. Here’s another of her drawings. Yeah, the eyes, Wightman said, the eyes.
That is supposed to be outgoing Texas Southmost College President Lily Tercero. Well, there is one eye we easily discern, the right one. Alas, Tercero’s left eye has left the building. Perhaps it was more an editorial statement from Nena to do with her ouster, but there is no eye there. It really seems to be a drawing from the morgue. It’s a weird one. Exaggeration is always part of caricature, of course. Nena Barton, bless her heart, is reported to be suffering vision problems, according to her husband, so that may be playing into her jagged, rough-edged drawings. I know. I know. She is not a pro. But we wanted to compare her work with that of, say, someone who has drawn Nena Barton. Here it is:
That one was done by one of Nena’s whimsical targets, Melissa Zamora Landin, who we can say took some umbrage with Barton’s stab at caricaturing her. Is it the eyes in that one? I thought Melissa captured Nena’s nose better than the rest of her face, but Nena appears to be missing her right breast. Maybe that’s Melly’s editorial comment.
We would wish Nena better health, so that we may one day see her caricatures of the city’s eccentric bloggers. Life allows for a few laughs, as these bloggers know well…
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The Brownsville Avenger 