By: Erica Mestyanek, Editor Dallas Yoga Magazine & Co-Founder Cosmic Yogi Festival

Above Photo: Randall & Kristin Brooks with their son & Pete Taboada

Pete Taboada is quickly becoming known in the Dallas/Fort Worth for his one of a kind, visionary art work and his charming spirit. Pete has been a partner of Dallas Yoga Magazine for some time now and has even created a unique Cosmic Yogi Festival exclusive piece that were sold on T-shirts and pillows.

How did you get into painting? I was born with the gift of being able to draw and paint. It is easy for me. That doesn’t mean I didn’t need help with my skills, so my parents helped by paying for private classes and things like that. When I was in high school I really enjoyed painting fantasy things, like a dragon or a sorcerer; things that you can’t see in the physical world. I didn’t realize then, I was being trained to paint the unseen. I love that though, it is my own creation. I went many years without painting, I got married and was focused on work and working overtime. During this time, I had some pain that was hiding and creeping up. It was the lack of me being who I really was; an artist and truly accessing my creativity. That’s when I decided to get rid of the excuses; time and space and I just started painting for myself. I went within to start painting my own journey about 5 years ago. I was showing people here and there and kept getting the message “wow, people need this!” I started meditating and praying about it and received a resounding “yes!” I want to help people see the unseen so they can capture the energy and essence and expand.

What do you think makes your artwork special? I like to paint what is within us. As I allow that to grow in me, I am given more insights, gifts and visions onto whoever I am talking to or whatever I am painting about. I am able to see their essence; what’s going on, their true self and power. Sometimes we don’t know who we are. I hold that as a joyous responsibility for myself.

When did you get connected with the yoga community? It happened so quickly. I was showing my art at Psychic fairs and festivals and started connecting with yogis who were noticing my art. At the same time, I was also learning about yoga. How important it is to the body and everything that goes with it. I started doing live paintings in conjunction with yoga.  I was commissioned to do a piece with crystals at Yoga on Main in Frisco. Then I was at Reef Point Yoga for a month and did a live painting during two yoga classes. From there, I was invited to different events to show my artwork. The yoga community is really working on themselves, expanding who they are. It is a synergy because that is what I am painting about.

For the Cosmic Yogi Festival, how did you channel the inspiration for that painting? Well when I talked to you and AJ, I asked what this event was about. You wanted to unite the yogis in Dallas! I was able to tap into both your heart energies to see what that felt like for you. It was so beautiful what you were creating. That’s how the colors came about, the waves at the top, the new world forming at the heart, it’s very cosmic. It is reaching out but it is also reaching in at the same time.

What is your favorite piece that you have done? The moment I create a piece, it is my favorite because it is brand new and I am learning from it. My top favorite is a 4×8 canvas with more than 100 crystals at Light workers Sanctuary in The Colony. Because it is so massive, every time I go see it, it is showing me different things in different areas. It is a living thing and I just continue learning from it.

What new things do you have on the horizon? I am going to start working with Bhakti House Band so you will be able to find us at different events and festivals throughout the year. I am beginning to work with charities as well. I am branching out and starting to go a little more mainstream with the art. Not that my art is changing, but mainstream is opening up so I want to be there for that.

You can check out more work by Pete by visiting his website https://petetaboada.com/ or his Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/visionaryartistpete/?ref=br_rs