Arturo Francisco Olivas paints traditional retablos for Spanish Market in his Albuquerque studio. Photo Credit Jim Thompson/Journal

Arturo Francisco Olivas will be selling about 40 of his retablos at Traditional Spanish Market in Santa Fe next weekend. But there is a one retablo Olivas has made that will be staying home. Its San Peregrin, the patron saint of cancer victims.

Olivas, an Albuquerque resident, is living with cancer.

He is one of more than 350 Hispanic artists showing such traditional artwork as retablos, bultos, straw appliqu and tinwork at the juried market.

Last July I painted the retablo before I knew I had cancer, the 53-year-old Olivas said.

Three months later, he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and hospitalized. He took medical leave from his bilingual teaching position with the Rio Rancho public schools. Then last December he decided, based on his doctors advice, to retire.

The doctor had given me eight to 12 months to live. His advice is Do whatever it is you need to do. I decided I couldnt continue teaching because I needed to use my energy to get well, Olivas said.

The cancerous tumors, he said, had spread to his brain, ribs and spine. Initially, he was given steroid therapy, then radiation treatment. On the advice of an oncologist, Olivas began long-term chemotheraphy treatment via a daily pill.

The chemo has shrunk the tumors and they have not spread to any other part of my body, he said.

Though the treatment leaves him debilitated, his days in retirement allow him more time for his art. He cuts and shapes the wood for the retablos in his backyard patio-workshop and paints them in the santos room inside his welcoming walled home.

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