My art journey starts in Veracruz, Mexico where I was born, as a five year old in kindergarten who loved art day. In elementary school up to fourth grade, there was no art class however, this didn’t stop me from having a craft box underneath my bed. This shoe box was filled with glitter, glue, scissors, pieces of paper, and other artsy things. Every hour a short 5 minute show came on TV called “Cositas” where the host would teach me how to create different crafts. At the time the show came on, I would run and bring my box out with such excitement.
When I was ten, I moved to Wilmington, North Carolina where I started fifth grade. This meant starting regular art classes. Knowing no English for the first few months, art was my only means of communication with the new culture I was exposed to. I created a woven basket, a clay angel, and colorful drawings in my art class. I had never had the opportunity to create art like that before, I was so happy, especially when some of my pieces were exhibited at the local mall. After that, I took an art class every year I was in school.
When I was in middle school I completed my first painting. It happened after a day at the beach with my dad. We were taking a walk by the water and he found and picked up a piece of discarded fabric which had been ripped from a kid’s boogie board. The piece of fabric had an image of a wave depicted as a blue tiger jumping. My dad suggested that I paint it and we stopped at the store after leaving the beach. He bought me an oil painting kit and a canvas. That’s how my first painting was inspired. It was a moment that would define my life as a painter.
I have always been inspired by my family because we are all artists. My mom made and sold decorative textile crafts, my dad designed and built his own house and many others, and all my siblings have in one way or another shown interest in design whether it is in pastry making, welding, or fashion. We’re a creative family and that has given me confidence in my journey as a creator.
After high school, I studied Art and Education at Salem College in Winston Salem, North Carolina. In college, I was able to start traveling more and exploring the beautiful American landscapes. Being inspired by Ansel Adams to record my surroundings with my camera, I started to become very interested in photography and photo diaries. Coming back from my trips and going through my photos was a fun process of its own, it allowed me to pick my favorites and to experience again the beautiful scenes. After a while, I started painting from my photographs. I found inspiration in the vast spaces of wilderness which I had explored in my travels. I also started to paint women in natural settings. I believe that each of my figure paintings has my essence in them as I am an explorer, a woman in nature. My paintings depict a journey, a journey which is filled with self exploration as much as world exploration. Each brushstroke is a memory of a place and the feelings that the place stirred in me. I am inspired by the mountains, the desert, and the sea from which my painting career started. The moments that made me want to be an artists since childhood come through in my work because they recall the journey of my life as a creator.