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Jo Knoblock Castillo has been drawing and creating as long as she can remember. Jo works mainly in pastels. "I love how pastels are bright, instant and tactile. I get to draw and paint at the same time," she says. Her work is representational and detailed without being photographic. She works in a variety of media to keep her work fresh and interesting. Plein air is something she likes to do because it is done quickly to capture the light. It keeps her work from being overworked and suits her style.
She attended workshops and classes in Lubbock, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Big Timber, Montana, where she studied with Jack Hines and Jessica Zemsky. She received additional instruction from Yolanda Aguirre in La Paz, Bolivia. Jo continues to pursue her creative side through classes and instruction. She and husband, Gene, spend time on the road providing extra learning experiences and giving them an appreciation of the wonderful country around us.
She lived fifteen years in South America (Bolivia, Peru and Chile). Travel presented many opportunities to learn and appreciate a variety of cultures and artistic creativity contributing to her bright and colorful style. Jo's paintings are displayed in homes across the United States, Canada, England and Bolivia.
Jo was raised in ranching country in and around Magdalena, New Mexico.Her signature comes from her father, Dutch Knoblock. He signed his name with a "no" inside a "block" -- No-block. Jo continues the tradition. Her three brothers used it as well! Dutch was one of the last real cowboys, a hired hand. He started out as a cook on a chuck wagon. Alice, Jo's mother, was one of nine girls that were real cowgirls. They lived on the ranch at Field, New Mexico, north of Magdalena and did all the riding, roping, bronc riding, branding, fence building and whatever needed to be done. Three of her children, Joanna, Juanita and Larry, live nearby in central Texas. David and family, wife Lisa, and the two grandchildren, Cole and Christy live in Kentucky. All are supportive and a great inspiration.
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The photo on the left is Jo's mom, Alice, just too precious not to be included here. The photo on the right of Dutch and Alice was taken in front of a house in Albuquerque where Jo lived with her room mate, Gen, when working for the airlines. Alice and Dutch were dressed up, there must have been an important event. The pickup appears to be one from the Field ranch, but cannot be sure. |
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| Something fun: This is a picture that Jo's mother, Alice, drew on the back of a cover sheet for some notebook paper. (The corner was cut off to show the paper under the cover sheet and has the paper info on the other side.) She used pencil and regular crayons to do it. She probably did this in the early seventies when they were at the Criswall ranch. Alice used to draw on the calendars, envelopes, wrapping paper and whatever paper was handy. One time she wrote to the big radio station in Albuquerque to complain about the music they were playing in the mornings .. some popular song she didn't care for .. and included a picture of the cows crying and covering their ears. |
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A little history of Magdalena is taken from husband's, Gene's, journal July 2004:
"Reading the book I bought yesterday from Tom Kelly reminded me of some of the history of this little town. It was established in 1884. The first known Spaniards came to the area we know as Magdalena in about 1542 or 43. It was a small group of soldiers and a priest that left the main body of the Francisco de Coronado expedition, if one can call it that, and came about 30 miles west. They saw a mountain with some growths and landslides that appeared to them to be the image of St. Mary Magdalene. The priest named the mountain La Sierra de Magdalena.
Click here to see detail of the face on the mountain. [181KGIF] Not much happened in the area for about 300 years until the Spaniards came back and took NM from the Indians. (Native Americans to be politically correct). Sometime around 1863, a soldier staked a claim on some land where he had discovered silver. In 1866, Jo's great-grandfather, Col. J. S. Hutchinson found lead in the Magdalena Mountains. There were soon lead and zinc mines in operation in the area. Around 1880 a railroad spur was built from Socorro to Magdalena then a short spur south of Magdalena to the foot of the mountains in order to haul the ore to the smelters in Socorro.
By May of 1885 a depot was constructed in Magdalena and stock pens were built near the tracks. As the mines were playing out the cattlemen moved in. The early Spaniards and Mexicans had brought cattle and sheep into the country. Foreign and absentee owners established large ranches. The ranchers trailed their cattle from ranches west and into Arizona to the stockyards in Magdalena. The animals were loaded onto trains and shipped to Kansas City.
I can very vividly remember how exciting it was in Magdalena during "Shipping Season" when all the cattle and sheep were driven in from the ranches to the west and loaded on the trains. There were thousands of sheep and cattle shipped out every October and November from the time we were little kids until we were in High School. Somewhere in those years, early to late 50's things began to change as now much of the livestock was being loaded onto trucks and hauled off from the stockyards. Then the trucks started picking up livestock at the ranches which meant the ranchers no longer had to drive their cattle and sheep to Magdalena. Someone told me once that the last major shipment of livestock out of Magdalena by rail was in the early 60's. The trains stopped coming to Magdalena altogether in about 1970 and the rails were pulled up in 1971.
During shipping season we used to go out west on the driveway, which was as much as one mile wide in some areas. The driveway fenced from Arizona to Magdalena for about 150 miles. The cowboys used to let us mount up and help drive the cattle.
My father's family was in the sheep business about 100 miles west of Magdalena. Every year we would go out near Datil and help herd the sheep, also on the driveway. Herding sheep was not nearly as glamorous as driving cattle as this was done on foot with sheep dogs actually doing most of the work. I think what I liked most about the drives was at night, when the cattle and sheep were bedded down, the great campfire meals that were prepared by the cooks."
Jo's paintings are exhibited and for sale in public venues in Bastrop, Texas, and Magdalena, New Mexico.
Festival of Trees - Charity event for the Family Crisis Center in Bastrop
Relay for Life - Cancer charity event in Bastrop
Gene and Jo volunteer at the Family Crisis Center in Bastrop. For information and/or help, call 1-888-311-7755, central Texas area or nationally at 1 -800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233) 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
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We support the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children |
Jo's husband, Gene, is a volunteer consultant with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. His principal involvement is with Project ALERT (America's Law Enforcement Retiree Team).
Lost and Found: A painting signed Wanda. Do you know this artist?
View 1 View 2 View 3 If so send Jo an e-mail.
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