Today we’d like to introduce you to Juan Zaragoza.
Hi Juan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born in 1979 in a small town called Patzcuaro, in Michoacan, Mexico. I grew up in a very nice family, where my childhood and adolescence were surrounded by nature and beautiful landscapes.
One summer, when I was 14 years old, my mother motivated me to enter formal drawing and painting classes. That’s where I met my first teacher who greatly influenced my artistic work. I discovered that I wanted to make painting my life. Later I entered the School of Arts in the city of Guanajuato, where I obtained my university degree in Visual Arts with a specialty in Painting.
When I graduated, I traveled for a long time to different parts of Mexico and the world, looking for new teachers who could teach me new techniques and different forms of artistic expression.
In 2012, I settled in the beautiful city of San Miguel de Allende, in Guanajuato, where I found an ideal place to develop in the world of art. I started giving classes at the Instituto Allende, to later open a gallery project with some friends. Over the years, I consolidated my own gallery which is currently 7 years old where I exhibit my work.
Years ago someone asked me why I paint landscapes and reflecting on the question; painting landscapes is the reflection of my happy childhood playing in the woods between trees and mountains.
San Miguel, for me, is magical. It is a cosmopolitan city where people come from all over the world and greatly appreciate art. I am grateful to live in this beautiful city. Here I developed as an artist, I formed my beautiful family, my wife, Daniela and my children, Luciana and Matias.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been easy or simple, since the art career is an activity that requires a lot of passion, love and discipline if you want to make this your way of life. Fortunately, I love my job, I do it every day, 8 hours a day. I can compare it to running a marathon. The discovery that I made through my years as an artist was that contemporary art is not profitable, at least in the time that I did it. However, when I returned to traditional art as a pictorial language and artistic expression, I noticed that the public he received it very well. For me, it was like finding a communication bridge between the spectator, my work and me; At the moment I paint a landscape, the viewer has already seen or experienced it, there is an immediate connection that I did not feel before with contemporary art.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a professional painter with 29 years of experience. My specialty is acrylic and watercolor. I paint mostly landscapes around San Miguel and scenes of daily life in the city. In addition to giving painting classes to a group weekly. Through my works, I want to give people joy, beauty, and peace.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
There are two things that make me happy, the first is being with my family, sharing time with my wife and my children. Watching them grow, enjoying a good restaurant with my wife, and spending time together. The second is Paint; Being in my studio, discovering new shapes, colors, landscapes. Taking my easel and going out to paint fills my soul in many ways. I feel lucky to be able to do what I like as a job, and share my life and time with friends and family in a place as beautiful as San Miguel.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.juanzaragoza.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/galeriajuanzaragoza/?hl=es
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/galeriajuanzaragoza
Image Credits
Fotografias Angel Hernandez
