Aurelio Jesus Ray Espinoza

REDLANDS - Ray Espinoza, a local artist and Cope Middle School teacher for more than 30 years, died Tuesday, April 21, at the age of 68. Aurelio (Ray) Jesus Espinoza was born Feb. 9, 1949, to Guadalupe and Aurelio Espinoza III, in Miami, Ariz. He grew up in nearby Globe, Ariz., and attended Arizona State University. Espinoza, whose father was of Native American descent, always had a love for history and anthropology, and intended to major in the subjects in college. After taking a history class with a "dry" professor, Espinoza chose to pursue art. After graduating with a master's degree in fine art, Espinoza moved to Redlands, where he began a career teaching art at Cope Middle School. "He always had a different art project for the students," said fellow Cope teacher Richard Pe a, who taught with Espinoza for more than 20 years. "He didn't do cookie-cutter stuff. He let the kids experiment with their artistic abilities." Espinoza paid particular attention to holidays, and planned assignments so students would have gifts to give their mothers on Mother's Day, for example. He also ran a serious, but fair classroom, Pe a said. "Every once in a while, we would run into a former student and they would remember he was strict," said his daughter, Aurelia Espinoza. "But he was always calm, quiet, very modest. I don't think he realized how many people considered him a friend, but now I'm finding out how many people he impacted." Outside teaching, Espinoza "really enjoyed traveling, his family, he loved art and gardening, and he loved to cook - there were many different sides to him," said friend and jogging partner Serena Davis of Redlands. "He was an avid runner," Aurelia said. "He ran with the same running group in Redlands for more than 30 years, every Tuesday and Thursday." Espinoza, described by family as a "restless spirit," enjoyed being outside and active. Gardening was a particular lifelong pastime. "He always maintained a garden," Aurelia said. "Before he owned his own house, he would rent a plot every summer to plant tomatoes, onions, peppers." Once Espinoza had his own home, he extended his garden to include flowers and fruit trees. His peach tree in particular produced so much," Aurelia said. "He would give peaches to the neighbors and they would always bring back homemade cobblers as a thank you." "His garden could feed a block," Pe a said. More recently, Espinoza enjoyed wine tasting and traveled with his daughter to the Santa Barbara wine country several times each year. He also enjoyed cooking for the many meals his family shared. "When we spent time with him, there was always a family meal," Aurelia said. "He loved to cook. He always made Mexican food, so his range was a little limited, but he really enjoyed it." Espinoza was particularly fond of his Chihuahua, Lily, who was the subject in several of his paintings, one described as "Warholish." When his daughter and her two Chihuahuas, Quixote and Puff, moved in with him, he "wooed (them) with treats over to his side," Aurelia said. "He spent a lot of time with them. He would take the three of them on walks every day, and if there was bad weather, he would take them for a drive, " Aurelia said. "He would have to order steaks in multiples of three, so each would have a bone." Though Espinoza had always traveled, he took many of his trips after retiring from teaching in 2001. Visits to countries including France, Amsterdam, Germany, and Ireland, influenced Espinoza's artwork and inspired him to venture into new mediums. "He always took his sketchbook and paints when he traveled and would find a time to go off by himself to sketch," Aurelia said. "When in Europe, he found that he wasn't able to depict the colors as well with watercolors. He started using pastels and acrylics." Espinoza also traveled to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Belgium, and Austria. Upon returning to Redlands from his travels in Europe, equipped with higher-quality pastels than could be found in the United States, Espinoza began to look for color in his subjects. Previously, he had focused on the yellow and brown hues of Southern California. "Suddenly, he was finding the color in everything: from the blue shadows of the orange groves, to the russet skin of the farm workers, to the purple of the Redlands canyons," Aurelia wrote in an e-mail. The subjects of Espinoza's art also changed over the course of his life. "When he first started, he did a lot of landscapes," Aurelia said. "He really liked rural landscapes. He would drive around in Yucaipa looking for dilapidated barns. We have a lot of paintings of old barns." Espinoza began to focus on desert scenes and gradually incorporated animals into the landscapes. As his garden began to flourish, he started painting flowers, particularly those from his own garden. Later, Espinoza painted humans, focusing on farmworkers and local gardeners. "More recently, he painted individual farm workers," Aurelia said. "He really liked to paint the orange pickers and always painted larger, exaggerated features. He always made the hands were much larger than they should be proportionally." Espinoza, with the help of family, sold his artwork locally, most frequently at the Red Dirt Art Festival. At Saturday's Red Dirt festival, Espinoza's fellow Cope teachers displayed some of his pastels. spinoza also made pottery and jewelry at times. "He was a very kind, gentle man, a friend to everybody he knew," Davis said. "I don't think there was ever a bad thing to say about him. He was loved by everyone who knew him." Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Thursday, April 30, at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, 1215 Columbia St. Internment will follow at Hillside Memorial Park.