qualities of the life and vegetation of the tropical Central American jungle. I also used a lively blue-green symbolic of the water, sky and in small spots for precious stones used then in their ornaments as jade – all elements inherent to the Maya civilization." Artist Buckley Mac-Gurrin, an art critic for the literary film magazine Script published by writer and artist Rob Wagner, wrote in a cover story of Politi in 1940 that "Leo became proficient in the use of many media – oil, watercolor, wood-carving, wood engraving, lithography, book illustration; he had a very fine artistic education. His training was modern as opposed to academic; it tended to develop originality rather than subservient to the art forms of bygone eras. His own artistic philosophy drew him toward the genuine and the earthy; toward people whose contact with the soil was still fresh, intimate, satisfying." Politi arrived in Los Angeles, California, in October 1931 and two years later he married Helen Fontes. Olvera Street Politi began sketching and painting from a regular spot on Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles, where he sketched tourists and sold drawings alongside potters, weavers and other artisans-in-residence. Politi's affection for Mexican-Americans and their folkways was genuine; an affinity. Most especially, as a devout Catholic, at home with Italian saints, he responded to Mexican ritual. Children — natural, spontaneous children — he loved without reserve or distinction. Drawing Mexican children, for magazines and books, gave him an American career and a professional identity. He painted a mural on Olvera Street "The Blessing of the Animals", where he depicted a tradition of Catholicism in remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi's love for all creatures. In the mural, men, women and children are walking their animals to get blessed. During the 1930s he worked in oils, watercolors and wood sculptures. His best work was probably gouache on paper with variations of the theme of mother and child. He also focused on Mexican pueblo scenes, religious ceremonies and customs, dancers and mischievous children. His palette was generally the same: ochre yellow, burnt sienna and brown tints that to him defined the Mayan civilization. His exhibits included the watercolor "Peons Asleep" and his sculpture "Mother and Child" at the Awards for the Ninth annual Exhibition of Southern California Art in 1937 in San Diego, California. In oil, Politi exhibited "Two Women and a Child." During the same year