The first friend I ever had was the son of our landscapers, his name was David. We were both 5 years old when we struck up a friendship. He was Mexican, he was kind and he was also gay or possibly trans. Looking back, I can see now that he was not masculine identifying because he enjoyed playing barbies with me and wearing women’s clothes. But at the time, he was just a person I cared for and had a lot in common with. To me, he was my friend and he was born different, which made him the perfect friend for me.
He died young of leukemia. I think about him a lot and wonder if we would still be friends today had he survived. And I also wonder why he had it so hard at such a young age. He didn’t deserve to die as a child.
In his short time here he did something great for me. He showed me that friends come in many different packages. He taught me to not see color or sexual preference as a reason for division, but a reason to unite. That imprint began very early for me and because of him my heart has been quite open to accepting all kinds.
I want to thank him for impacting me so positively. I want to honor his short life here and honor all LGBTQ lives. Thank you to all my friends who exercise patience with me while teaching me. You are broadening my understanding and empathy for everyone. 🙏🏼 🏳️🌈
-Andrea
The Accordion Player
18x18 inches
Oil on stretched canvas
This painting was created from a photo my fiancé took of an accordion player resting against a brown door in Old San Juan. He is very old, but is there every day to play tunes for visitors and residents. His figure is hunched over with his hat covering his face, which is represented in black. His feet hang out into the cobblestone road as he rests between songs.
See video of the original photo reveal here.
Building of Blue
18x18 inches
Oil on stretched canvas
My hope with this series is to increase awareness of Puerto Rico, showcasing its natural beauty, history, and heart. This particular piece was created from a photo I took of blue and purple houses next to a tree in Old San Juan (a beautiful historic and colonial part of Puerto Rico) while I lived there. I wanted to capture the beautiful Caribbean colors of the old town in large geometric shapes to emphasize light and dark registrations of the scene. The idea here is to capture the vibrancy of emotions and movement of Puerto Rico in its most simplest form.
See video of the original photo reveal here.
Skyline
18x18 inches
Oil on stretched canvas
This is a view from a street in Old San Juan of old colonial pink and blue houses in the sun, while the buildings to the right are in the shade. The sky is typical Caribbean blue, no cloud in site. The abstracted version of this photo has been reduced to geometric shapes of color that capture the light and vibrance of the area.
10x10 inches
Acrylic on Canvas
This piece is a blue, black, and white version of a photo of a flower I took in El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico. I really like the idea of playing with hue variation--colors are very powerful to me, they communicate energy in its basic form. Instead of black and white, this particular painting is blue, black, and white. These colors have a racial connotation toward Puerto Rico's mixed races as they live among the variants of blues seen throughout the island.
10x10 inches
Acrylic on stretched canvas
I was walking through Old San Juan and noticed this blue building being shown in yellow from the street lights. It was a beautiful gradient transitioning from yellow to green to blue. My interpretation in this painting is through a Spanish mosaic tiled lens, which you see everywhere in Puerto Rico. I captured the yellow light from the streets, while the black windows look as if they are dancing figures.
See the video reveal of the original photo here.
Red Yunque Flower
10x10 inches
Acrylic on Canvas
This painting is inspired by a photo of a flower I took in the El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico.
Street of Old San Juan
36x36 inches
Oil on stretched canvas
Shipping note: For shipping larger pieces, the canvas will be taken off the wood frame and rolled. Meaning buyer will have to get the canvas stretched on wood bars once the painting has arrived. This reduces shipping costs significantly.
This painting was inspired by a picture I took of a long narrow street in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico which led all the way to the sea if you stand to look from the top. This picture has high light and dark contrasts, which is depicted through geometric shapes to show how vibrant this island is. There is a soundtrack of music, singing, and laughter in Old San Juan always and I aimed to show this through the moving shapes and colors.
Something that really struck me about this particular historic part of town is how beautiful the old town always looks in pictures and in person, yet when you spend time in the town you will see a fairly large homeless population and stray animals.
See video of the original photo reveal here.