The Brother I Never Asked For – by June Eyton

Every Sunday, local artists display their paintings in the Parque Juarez and Toller would always go and look. These artists all knew who he was. They knew exactly who he was. Toller was well-known in the area and anyway his style was unique. He usually wore oversized clothing with the pants held up with a wide belt and a huge buckle on the outside of the loops. The pants were invariably stained with paint and his hands had splotches of paint up to his elbows. He was considered to be a prominent artist in the town, and he would usually buy something. It could be a painting or some piece of art. He didn’t really want or need it, but it was his way of encouraging young artists.

Toller was a bit of a hoarder and Mexican ceramics were a favourite. He collected literally hundreds of colourful painted ceramic plates, for instance. There was so much that many were hung on the outside walls of his houses, there not being enough room on the inside. The kitchen ceiling was another favourite place for hanging ceramic platters and masks. When I asked him about that, his retort was “the ceiling is the last frontier.” Whenever we had visiting friends or family, we would take them to visit what we dubbed the #1 tourist attraction in San Miguel, which was Toller of course. The visitors invariably emerged utterly enchanted with the encounter and the proud owners of at least one new painting. I think of Toller as the brother I never asked for.