On a rainy morning in Berkeley, Chilean-born artist Guillermo Navarrete Davis takes shelter at Mudrakers Cafe. He cozies up on a couch with his wife and translator Rebecca Navarrete Davis, and the two pass a latte between one another as they discuss with me Guillermo’s most recent accomplishment: being named featured artist for the East Bay Open Studios winter event. 

On Dec. 7 and 8, East Bay Open Studios will display the works of over 120 local artists in multiple locations across the East Bay. For the event’s fiftieth anniversary, Guillermo was selected as its featured artist, earning him a permanent spot in the studio’s main event space at the Grand Gallery in Oakland’s Jack London Square. 

“Last year when I saw the magazine, I thought, ‘One day, maybe I’ll have my painting in the front,’” he said. “And then, that’s what happened. It’s like a dream of mine.” 

This year, Open Studios’ catalog cover features a striking image: a portrait of a young boy in a blue hoodie, a delicate smile painted on his face. The subject is Rebecca’s son, who Guillermo has masterfully captured with a sense of bright youthfulness. 

Guillermo’s work emphasizes realism in depictions of marginalized groups. He explains that many realistic portraits are recreations of the classics such as the “Mona Lisa,” but that realism usually doesn’t focus on lesser-represented groups, such as older people or young children. 

“They tend to do portraits of people from higher classes,” Rebecca explains. “A lot of times their subjects just represent one strata of society, and he likes telling the stories of people that don’t usually have their stories told.”

Guillermo began his artistic journey in Santiago de Chile, where he experimented with different forms of painting. His relationship with art was complicated both by Pinochet’s dictatorial regime during the ’70s and ’80s and by having been raised by a military family skeptical of his artistic pursuits. Guillermo himself served in the army for four years, which he says influenced his perspective on art. 

“I think about the past and the future all at once,” he said. “During my life in the army, I saw so many different people — maybe that’s why I like painting more realistic people.” 

He shows me one of his favorite pieces entitled “En la Cocina,” a depiction of a Mexican woman and her children standing in a kitchen. Guillermo stumbled upon a photo of this scene in a decades-old National Geographic magazine, which he recreated in oil on canvas. The details in this painting are potent, from the wisps of smoke floating off of the pan to the dramatic shadows on the young girl’s face as she hides behind her mother. This painting can be found on display at the Museum of Northern California Art as part of an exhibition on Latino perspectives.

Guillermo believes this traditional technical realism separates him from other artists in his field. Light-heartedly, he pokes fun at abstract art, which he says is “easy” to make. But he intonates that they’re just two different disciplines. He explains that the tediousness and fine detail that realism requires are signs of an artist’s dedication to their craft.

“That’s for me, something I’m a little critical of,” Guillermo said about the lack of realism among his contemporaries. “I like it when people take more time with their painting. I would like to see art that is painted from the inside.”

An admitted perfectionist, Guillermo’s intricate paintings demonstrate the time and care he puts into his craft. His preferred painting method is with oil, which does not dry as fast as acrylic, allowing the artist to create malleable layers. These paintings often take several months to create, as he continues to add layers over time when he sees fit.

One of the largest in his collection, the painting “Hijo en las Hojas” was originally created as a Christmas gift to his wife, though he spent months after the holidays had passed perfecting it. The work depicts Rebecca and their son lying down in a pile of leaves. With layering emphasizing natural folds in the skin and the leaves’ brittle textures, the result can only be described as photorealistic. The painting, among others, is an exemplar of the dedication and effort that Guillermo puts into his creations, as well as a demonstration of fondness for his loved ones. 

In addition to around 20 pieces on display during the East Bay Open Studios, Guillermo will also be selling small-scale works including greeting cards, magnets and prints to ensure that people have access to his work without having to buy an entire painting. His prints and exhibition will be on display beginning Dec. 1 at the Grand Gallery.