Lotus

      Hola, my name is Robert Cardenas. I know technically that Mateo and I are really not related, but I do consider him part of our family, in fact my daughter Camille refers to him as her uncle. I really hope he is not offended by the fact that we sometimes refer to him as hippie Matt,,,cause we mean it in a very loving way. I personally feel like I am hippie trapped in in this crazy whirlwind of life. This mentality is probably one of the main reasons that Matteo and I have a lot of similar interests and views. Sure he is a little more hardcore on his vegetarian lifestyle than me...since I do indulge in a few seafood delicasies once in a while,,,and not to mention that I am a meatcutter by trade. I still remember going to a Pizza Hut in Waukegan Illinois and shareing a veggie pizza with him. I think it was soon after that I decided to give up eating meat,,or maybe it was a bit to much Morrissey back in the 80's. I was also going to college up in Wisconsin working on my Bachelors of Fine Arts, which is another similar interest that we have. Which brings us to my M.A.B. hoodie story. Mateo was kind enough to design batik shirts for my entire family a few years back, which we have gotten many great comments on and have been worn to many awsome places and events. I even got my picture taken with the drummer Manas from Franti/ Spearhead, while sporting said shirt. I had often hinted to Mateo about doing some buddhistesque images on his designs. Which is another one of my interest. I thought my ideas were falling on deaf ears, til I received my father's day gift this year! A one of a kind lotus flower design with an eight spoke image in the middle!!! Awsome! I did have to wait a while before I was able to use it, cause at the time we were experiencing 90 degree weather here in Chicago. But now, Fall is here and I am getting much warmth from it. I am always proud to say that my good friend and brother made this for me. Thanks again Mateo...not just for the great hoodie but for everything else includeing being part of our makeship family! Peace and love brother!

         Jesus Roberto Cardenas Garza,,,aka Bob for those who can't roll their rrrrrrrrrrrrs

When Lilia asked me about making a batik for Robert I must admit that was a little unsure of myself.You see, Robert has done some really great art  and, I wanted to make sure it would be something that he would like enough to wear more than every now and then. The only requirements were that the flower should not be pink,melon or pastely(is that even a word?). I was once given an F in a High School art class for using too many dark tones and not enough pastels... but, that's another story. So the hoodie above is like almost every other hoodie that has been made, one of a kind, made especially for the person that ordered it. I am happy that Robert loves what was done for  him and, I am grateful that Lilia and Camille chose Mountain Air Batik to be the creators of their fathers day gift. Most of all I am honored to be part of their extended family.