Today we’d like to introduce you to Sergio Ramirez.
Hi Sergio, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Mexico, in a small community called Aguaverde, in Sinaloa. From an early age, I started drawing and discovered I had a creative side me that always been passionate about it, my dream as a child was always to be a painter but growing un in a family of musicians, I was encouraged by my parents to pursue a career away from any type of art to have a better life than the one they provide to us since Dad was always away from home because his music career, they didn’t want that for their own kids. I graduated as an Electronics Engineer in 1995 and moved to Tijuana B.C., to find a job. I worked for Manufacturing companies like Panasonic and Technicolor, which gave me an opportunity to grow as an engineer and experience that soon helped me moved up to a management position at the age of 23. I was young and in a position I always desired but Art never left and started pursuing it. I quit my job and emigrate to Idaho US in 2006 as an excuse to learn English since my Engineering Requires career highly demands it for better communication. While there, I join to a five days outdoor art workshop Just to get in contact with paint for my first time in 2010.
That is where everything started, at the end of the class the teacher call me on the side and encouraged me to keep doing it, he said I was a “diamond in a rough”. I listened to his words and painted another three canvas one of them a gift for my mother with the face of “Virgen de Guadalupe” surprised with the outcome, and being back at home in Mexico I volunteer to paint a mural in the church I grew up visiting as a child. The mural was successful and ended painting two pieces that later on, Gave me my first job as a painter here in Los Angeles. Painting religious art for Olvera’s street Church “Our Lady Queen of Angels”. The job I was doing during the evenings while in the morning I had a part-time job as a cook in a restaurant in DTLA, Across the street from “Figueroa hotel” that put me in front of my dream job, to paint large scale murals. After chasing and applying to this mural company “Walldogs” for a few months and watch them paint, one day I get the call for my trial day, and that same day I was welcome to be part of their crew. There was the beginning of this amazing journey.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely, it hasn’t been a smooth road, emigrate to a new country is never easy, leaving your whole life behind, friends you grew up with, my family, that is hard, learning a new language, adapt to a whole new culture in a country where you are surrounded by so many other cultures and races, which has been beautiful to learn but also definitely challenging, on top of all that, the hard work, working two jobs long exhausting hours for days with no days off for a while sometimes and all it takes for always chasing this dream.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a painter that specializes in photorealism reproductions in a large scale hand-painted mural, that is mainly what I’m known for so far. Painting hand-painted advertising around the country has been my art school, working with the best painters in the industry gave me the opportunity to improve my painting skills to a whole different level and the tools not only to keep improving but also the tools teach and inspire the younger coming generation. But what Really my specialty is, to be able to tell a story through painting, to really connect with whatever is that inspires me, my roots, where I’m coming from, someone’s journey, a tribute to people I admire. To have the ability to listen to an idea or dream not necessarily my own and develop that through colors that’s what really gets me excited.
I am proud of who I am, proud of where I’m coming from, proud to be living in this country that gave me the opportunity to make my dream become a reality now, and give something back with my art, to show the children of immigrants like me more about their parent’s roots and where they came from, to learn more about our own culture through their stories, and feed our souls with art that remind us who we are and never forget where we coming from.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
What sets me apart is the source of my inspiration, like everyone else has their own, I love painting what really moves me, what really makes my heart beat faster. To be able to capture on a canvas those feelings and stories whether it is your own or inspired by someone else’s, steal an emotion from the viewer And really give back and inspire through painting… it’s a blessing.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bartola_art/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awaverde
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bartola_art?lang=en
