, "Saint Michael"

"I was born in the beautiful city of Huaraz on July 16, 1960, where I grew up with my family. My father was a tailor and my mother a homemaker. Currently, she has a little grocery shop not far from our house. After high school, I studied sculpture for two years and then painting. From 1984 through 1990, I studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Lima.

"I liked painting from the time I was a child, and would practice for drawing and painting contests. In high school, the typing teacher asked me to do a mural. My classmates saw how good I was and I began making drawings for them and earning some money.

"I grew up in the church and my inclination for painting religious images was natural; I enjoyed participating in catechism and was also an acolyte.

"While still in the School of Fine Arts, I received an invitation for a course on restoration in the Convent of San Francisco, and I was chosen to participate. I learned about the Cuzco, Viceroyalty, and Lima paintings very well, and fell in love with these styles, just as I had with folkloric paintings in the beginning.

"As time went by, a friend and I decided to start a painting workshop and we began looking for national and international customers. Later, I set up my own workshop where I painted with a colleague. Little by little, I transformed these woven mat walls to adobe, and today I am building my home with noble materials as I continue selling my paintings.

"Apart from drawing, I also enjoyed playing soccer, foosball and swimming as a boy. As a teen, I was a part of a dance group from the Escuela de Bellas Artes of Huaraz. I also like architecture and construction. While I was building my house, among the people who bought my paintings, I met architects who have given me advice on design.

"I describe my art as both a personal expression and religious art combined with themes from the Andes. In the landscapes, I show the traditional clothing used by our people. In some of my paintings, I use gold leaf, which I delicately apply about a month and a half after finishing the painting.

"I always find motivation in the experiences of my childhood, and the place where I was born. I shall cherish those memories for life. I try to transmit family unity, our love for our children, and everything related to biblical themes. Everything I do is my own way of sharing my faith in a visual manner full of color.

"My work has been exhibited in a number of Peruvian venues and, in 2010, in New York.

"One of the greatest challenges in my life has been to have a house of my own. I'm building it little by little, but I now have my painting studio there. Another challenge is to get ahead for my family, and send my only child to college so he'll have everything he needs for life.

Thank you, Novica friends, for continuing to support artists who can market their work here. You are not only purchasing a piece of art, you are helping a family get ahead and, for this, I am very grateful."