by Jeff Sutherland
US Highway 160 east of Trinidad bisects a barren land of plateaus, juniper and dry buffalo grass as far as the eye can see. Yet this isolated stretch of highway attracts new residents to southern Colorado--an artist who speaks against the inhumanity of mankind; a family that moved from the bustling suburbs of Ithaca, New York, to this quiet, windswept stretch of prairie for a simpler life; and a Forest Service engine boss who knows as much about this land in his two and a half years living here as do those who have lived here all their lives.
East of Trinidad, the first sign of human life along US Highway 160 other than fence posts and power lines is Walt's Corner, a tin-roofed storefront located about 30 miles east of Trinidad at the junction of Colorado Highway 389. Parked in front is a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Aire in mint condition. A wood porch clings precariously to the front of the store. Its panels creak when I walk on them. There are two wood signs over the doors, both hand carved. One says, "Store." The other says, "Gallery."
Tony Bernal, the owner of Walt's Corner, stands behind the glass counter. He leans back on his heels and tucks his thumbs under the straps of his overalls. Laid out in front of him are three bronze sculptures and a knife carved out of a deer's antler.
"I don't think fame and money's where it's at," he says, "as long as you make a decent living."
One bronze depicts a beggar woman--her shoulders bent, one hand clutching a crooked staff, the other reaching out for whatever the viewer could offer.
In another, a Native American man stands beside his horse. His head is bent over in defeat, sis horse's back bent in weariness. Bernal calls this piece "The Vanquished Race."
"I almost called it 'The Empty Quiver' because it's pretty much the end of the line for him," Bernal says.
The third is one of Bernal's favorites, and one of the first pieces he had ever cast. It shows an African slave sitting on a wooden bench. He holds his forehead in his hands, and his face is contorted. A chain binds his ankle to the bench.
He called it "Man's Inhumanity to Man."
"I just had to do it, so I did," Bernal says. The sculpture became one of his most popular. He has sold dozens of castings.
He says that most of his inspiration comes from human suffering, the kind that doesn't leave his mind. Take, for example, the beggar woman. While Bernal was in Okinawa, he saw women like them all the time.
"There's not much you can do about a beggar except for give them a few bucks," he says. "It's my statement about that part of humanity."
Moving to the prairie has helped his creativity as well.
"My mind's a lot freer. I don't have to worry about traffic. You can see a cloud out there and say, "There's an Indian or buffalo.'"
Not having the worries of city life has let him develop ideas that stick in his head, he said.
And the worries of city life are far from this region of Southern Colorado. Walt's Corner is at least 30 miles in all directions from other towns. The closest towns are Trinidad and Kim.
