Naturally gifted with a keen observation of everyday life and the cultural, social, political and religious landscape in the world we live, Paul Torres’ art embodies a rich imagination and is laced with social commentary and a soulful interpretation of everyday life. Paul was born in Chile, his interest in art began at age 3 after being introduced to comic books.
I was a struggling musician, with big ambitions but not much success, when I went to a music industry conference in Las Vegas to promote my music. I was nervously doing everything I could to make connections with the executives at all the big music companies. I would attend every panel of experts, taking notes on everyone’s name, and going up to the stage afterwards to introduce myself and get their contact info.
Coming to the United States for a one-year stay at the age of nine to Mar Vista, CA is when Paul fell in love with the art culture here. After immigrating to the United States permanently at age 18, he served in the U.S. Army, attended Otis Parsons Art Institute forum for two years and in 1998, he received his Bachelor of Fine Art in Illustration from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Synthia SAINT JAMES is a world renowned multicultural visual artist, an award winning author and/or illustrator of 17 children’s books, several poetry and affirmation books, a cookbook, a play, a monologue, and the autobiographical book titled Living My Dream: An Artistic Approach to Marketing (which was nominated for a NAACP Image Award in 2012).
Synthia SAINT JAMES’ art and celebrity have been utilized in numerous promotional campaigns for such companies as Royal Caribbean International, Johnson & Johnson’s Ambi, Liberty Mutual, Seagram’s, Union Bank of California, Washington Mutual Bank, Maybelline, Kayser-Roth, Coca Cola USA, Essence Communications, Barnes and Noble, and AARP (a painting design for a Metro Rail Train).
According to several Chinese news sources, for the first time – because of poor air quality in Beijing, there will be no firework displays in the Sky this year. It creates too much smog. Some people are happy about this and some are not. Still, Happy Chinese New Year everyone, fireworks or no fireworks!
