I am an artist based in Houston, Texas.  I was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba to a Cuban father and a Colombian mother.  I left Cuba at the age of 6 months and moved to Colombia, South America.  I moved to the United States at the age of 12.

I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Houston with a major in Art History and minors in Architecture and Studio Arts.  I found art school fascinating.  I concentrated on drawing, painting and sculpture.  I had the opportunity to work under incredible professors.  I studied Painting with Sharon Kopriva, Chuck Dugan and Derek Boshier and Drawing and Sculpture with James Surls.

I later earned a Master in Bilingual Education and Supervision from the University of St. Thomas, Houston.  I taught elementary school for 25 years. Today I am living my dream of being a full-time artist.

I have always had a passion for art.  Since I was a small child, I have loved to draw, color, paint, cut and paste images.  I found inspiration in the pages of my parents' art encyclopedia books, and was fascinated by Kandinsky, Picasso, Miro and Dali.

Creating is a very emotional act for me.  It helps me bring to the forefront traumatic events I have experienced.  I lived through political unrest in my early childhood.  At just one month old I lived through the Bay of Pigs invasion, very close to my hometown of Cienfuegos.  During one of the attacks, my mother could hear the bombs and ran with me to a neighbor’s house to seek refuge.  The next few months my parents endured many struggles, which resulted in us fleeing Cuba and settling in Colombia.  I am certain these events helped shape me emotionally and are the cause of many fears and anxiety in my life.  My images are an expression of this angst. I see my art practice as part of a spiritual journey that helps me discover the mysteries of my existence.  It is my means of healing as well as expressing and communicating with others.  Art is my reason to be.

I currently concentrate on oil and acrylic painting, collage, drawing, mixed media and sculpture.  I incorporate strong boundaries and borders, different materials, the use of rough sandpaper, detached pieces and rips, interlocking parts - almost like puzzle pieces, and bold colors mixed with muted tones to create truly powerful images.

My mission is to explore and experiment with different media and techniques to express and communicate my thoughts, ideas and feelings to the viewer.  My goal is to spark a dialog and make a connection between the viewer and my work; that pure harmony between the viewer and the image, a “vibration of the soul and inner pulsation,” as Kandinsky called it.  My duty is to ignite people's souls.

Photo above by Kim Tonks Photography.