At eight years old, I began taking painting lessons with a woman named Noemi. She had a painting studio in the front of her small, quaint house in San José, with stray dogs passing by and colorful houses just outside the front gate. Every Saturday, I’d sit with an easel on her front porch, a paint palette in one hand and a brush in the other. Her medium of choice was oil paint, and I soon fell in love with it as I experimented with shape and color. She taught me to look closely, to see the world in ways I hadn't before, and to translate it onto the canvas.

After moving to the United States in 2010, I studied at the Art Students League of Denver, exploring every medium available, from figure drawing to watercolor. I was selected for a gallery showing when I was just eleven years old. I understood that my art held value beyond myself, an understanding that carried me to Denver School of the Arts, where I pursued theatre and learned to approach humanity with empathy and compassion.

Exploring imagery allowed me to reconnect with the child within my young adult self, to play, to risk, and to create without fear. At its core, theatre is a dangerous craft if practiced without care, one that demands vulnerability, emotional honesty, and deep responsibility. When done safely and rigorously, it has the power to connect people, unleash intense truths, and give voice to what is often silenced.

I spent two formative years in New York City, immersing myself in the creative community and supporting local artists. During the pandemic, I returned to Colorado to attend the University of Colorado Boulder, where my artistic path expanded again, this time into film and writing. I wrote screenplays and stage plays, including a full-length play which was workshopped at the New Play Festival. I named the main character Noemi, honoring the woman who first taught me how to see.

Alongside film, I returned to studio art, drawing, painting, printmaking, and ceramics, and transformed what was once a hobby into a versatile artistic skill set. Today, as a teacher, I see how deeply this passion resonates with my students. I recognize in them the same spark I once carried, and I strive to nurture it with the same care and encouragement I was given.