Porfirio Salinas has been hailed the best painter of the Texas hill country and its bluebonnets. Born on November 6, 1910, Porfirio's teachers recognized and encouraged his drawing ability. When Porfirio found employment after school in a graphics company that also sold art supplies, he met Robert Wood, recognized for his Texas landscapes, and Jose Arpa, director of the San Antonio Art School. These two artists greatly influenced him. During the depression years, he became his family's main financial support. Later Dewey Bradford, owner of a well-known art gallery in Austin, became his agent. Because of Bradford's many contacts in the social and political circles, many prominent people (e.g., President Lyndon Johnson, Sam Rayburn, Price Daniel, and John Connally) bought Salinas' paintings. Salinas was troubled with an alcoholic problem throughout his life. Consequently, he fell into financial difficulties at the age of 47; but, with the help of friends, he learned to exercise a degree of control over it. He established new heights of fame when he painted two murals inside San Antonio's Lone Star Brewery. Porfirio Salinas died at 62 on April 18, 1973 during the season when the Texas hill country was at its height of bluebonnet profusion. (NQA)