Naples Island Artist

I decided on calling myself the Naples Island Artist for two reasons. I am an Artist & I live on Naples Island, Long Beach since 2001. Simple enough, right?

I am a California native and even though I truly enjoy to travel I do not believe that I will ever relocate. I think (of course nothing is a definite) that I have found my home here on Naples Island.

I am the only son to Mexican parents that moved from Guanajuato & Puebla in the early sixties in search of a brighter future for their family. I cannot tell you enough how proud I am of my hard working father, mother & grandmother for all the hard work and adversity that they faced and overcame on the move to the United States. I have three sisters who I love very much, Martha, Maricela & Rosa. We were raised in a traditional Mexican household with plenty of chores, tortillas & weekly mass.

As with many kids, art in school was just a part of growing up. I entered my first drawing contest at the age of 11 and my drawing was printed on The Pasadena Star News. I was awarded $10!!! High School was filled with 4 years of art classes as well as weekend courses at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena. I won several art competitions including the Blue Ribbon for my age group at the Los Angeles County Fair. In college I was the Art Editor for the college paper where I won several awards for my editorial artwork.

Computer generated art/graphics began to take over so I took courses in the most popular software at Art Center. I worked as a freelance artist and generated artwork for many businesses including Capitol Records & Tower Mastering in Hollywood. My works were published in the Hollywood Reporter.

I became involved in an old tradition of street painting commonly found in Europe. My first exposure to that was in the newly formed "Pasadena Chalk on the Walk" in 1994 and thought that I might enjoy participating in it. I registered the following year & I won 3rd Place Overall out of over 300 artists. That made my sore back and scuffed up knees a little more bearable after a weekend of hot weather.