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We’ve got talent

Lilibeth Andre, Public Works & Engineering, has been painting all her life.
She has an in-home studio and sells her paintings online and in local galleries. Photo courtesy of Lilibeth Andre.

By Dave Schafer

In August 1997, Manuel Leal gave himself 10 years to become a published writer before giving up his dream and devoting his free time to more profitable ventures.

In June, Wizard Consulting and Publishing will print Leal’s first book of poems, with more poetry and short story collections to follow.

“There’s been a lot of failures in trying to get published, but it’s all made me a better writer,” said the 53-year-old dumpster permitting inspector in Solid Waste Management.

Leal also writes, produces, directs and acts in plays, staging them at Helios restaurant, the Spring Branch Boys and Girls Club, and Talento Bilingue De Houston.

“I have a gift and I want to share it,” he said. Leal isn’t alone. Many city employees enjoy sharing their gifts outside the job.

Images in print and paint
Louis Aulbach, Finance & Administration, has authored five river guidebooks that mix history with mile-by-mile information and maps. Three of his guides are on the Rio Grande. The others are on the lower Pecos and Devil’s rivers.

“I’ve been canoeing since the late 1970s, and I realized there were these exciting rivers, and there weren’t maps and histories to help guide you through them,” Aulbach said.

He published his first guide in 1987.

Three or four times a year, Aulbach said, he spends a week canoeing down a river. When he’s writing a guide about a river stretch, he canoes it three or four times.

“Once you do the research, you want to tell people about it,” Aulbach said.

For as long as she can remember, Lilibeth Andre has been painting. Her parents and her grandparents were artistic, and she studied art and design in college in Mexico City.

Now, she sells her paintings through her Web site and galleries in Bellaire, Fredericksburg and Galveston. Andre paints landscapes, wild and still life, and portraits.

She hopes her art can provide a stable income someday. For now, “I’m doing it as something I enjoy.”

As Public Works & Engineering bicycle pedestrian coordinator, Andre uses her skill to design fliers, the Bikeway Program Web site and “anything we put out to the public.”

Why do birds fly south?
Because it’s too far to walk
Others prefer performing in front of live bodies. Dwayne Santa Cruz spins discs and entertains around Texas and Louisiana as D.J. Cruz.

In junior high school, Cruz started disc jockeying family parties. In 1985, he opened Cruzin’ Entertainment. He plays weddings, birthday parties, and, on the weekends, at Maxwell’s the Club on South Main Street.

“I like being around music, and I like seeing people have a good time,” said Cruz, a Finance & Administration accountant.

Shawn Williams, a PWE administrative supervisor, always told jokes at the dinner table. When a friend suggested she try standup comedy 20 years ago, she started performing at her church’s Christmas banquets.

Now, using the stage name, Shawn Deblieux (pronounced “W”), she does standup at birthday parties, DARE functions, and church retreats. Every Wednesday, she performs at Tymes Square on Fuqua.

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