Hi y’all! So happy to see new faces in our petite art community. Welcome everyone! I’d like to tell you a bit about my self and my art journey. My name is Maria (some call me Mayte which is the nickname for Maria Teresa, my full name).
I was born and raised in Mexico City and then moved to the pink stone city Morelia at the age of 15. It was a tough change but it helped building the basis of my character to overcome challenges we go through when facing something new. Weirdly enough, after that change it seems like I was ALWAYS chasing the new: new activities, new classes, new cities, new countries. That change was definitely a trigger for my creative cravings.
I wasn’t brave enough to choose Art for a college degree and instead got my bachelors in International Trade and Politics. A few months before graduating I got an internship and then was offered a full time job at the company of my dreams: Cinepolis (the 4th largest movie theater company in the world). I spent 4 years growing and learning both professionally and personally and it was the best time in my young adult life! Still, I was always doing something creative but in 2016 I decided to go back to my canvases, brushes and paint to explore the big formats. And then something happened: people started purchasing my pieces! My whole world was being turned upside down and there was 1 question on my mind all the time: is this a sign for me to pursue my art dreams? You can imagine that process: fear, excitement, guilt to even think of quitting an amazing job, everything was going though my mind.
Finally I decided to take the risk. To leave everything (EVERYTHING) and go work for my dream. I wanted to add a little bit of spice too (because why not complicating everything even more? That’s my MO!). So I decided to select a country/city where I knew nobody and that I didn’t speak the language of (bragging moment here haha at the time I spoke 4 languages already so the options narrowed). The selected place to get my Masters in Arts & Culture Management: Rome, Italy.
This project was equally amazing and awful, but you know what they say! If it feels too easy you’re not aiming high enough. It was the best experience of my life, yes, but my oh my did a feel like crashing every other day: living on a budget, sharing an apartment with 8 girls (whom I love), public transportation adventures. Everything was like a chaotic abstract painting of my life. Fortunately it ended up being one of my life masterpieces.
Came back to Mexico and lived in Playa del Carmen for 6 months working at an art gallery which was awesome and one of the prettiest places on earth. But at the end, I needed to get back to the labor force I knew and honestly missed.
As always life puts you where you have to be: 6 months after I was invited to come back to Cinepolis on a new adventure! I was transferred to Dallas to work on the US branch. Another dream came true: to live abroad permanently.
Today my 2 passions of the corporate world and the art world live in harmony on my daily life. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to nurture both sides of my brain and to apply my knowledge from one world to the other everyday.
I will be forever grateful for this and will always work very hard to ensure both of my passions coexist for the rest of my days. My journey keeps developing and I love sharing it with you.
Thanks so much for reading me and for walking side by side as I explore life more and more.