"Something about seeing people in their most fragile states interests me. I consider myself an artist. I will never not be an artist. My need to create is instilled in me; it's who I am."

Antonio A. Suarez is one of those creators who makes their art seem effortless. Behind the scenes, as he explained, it is quite a different story of preparation and “drafts,” and his finished pieces reflect that attention to detail exquisitely. His primary mediums are oil paint and charcoal, and we were especially amazed at what he is capable of creating using a “burnt piece of wood” on paper.

“I’m still trying to figure out my process. I know that I can always get better. I need to connect with an audience, and I have a bunch of projects that I want to work on; things that will evoke emotion more than just being a simple portrait of somebody. Art is a metaphor for control…you control the marks that you put on paper or canvas. Art is my way of coping with life. It’s part of who you are; it’s like you’re a lefty or a righty…I’m a lefty. It’s something I’ve always done and will always continue to do. I would just love to keep getting better, keep excelling.

I want to be like this at my worst, so there can never be anything less than these. These are the pieces that I’m currently proud of. You get to the point in a piece where you know you’ve finished it and you just want to experiment on the fine art aspect of it, where it’s like the fun, playful creative side of your brain, so you’ll make these marks that come from nowhere…vertical, slanted, horizontal… One woman pulled me over, and she was talking about a piece, and she told me ‘oh, those eyes…my mother used to look at me with those eyes.’ I was just drawing somebody, and for someone to react to that and have that connection to my piece in such a way…I was speechless, I didn’t know what to say. I hope that my art has that effect on everybody. It can’t just be ‘oh, you’re talented.’ Thanks, but no thanks. I need a deeper message than that. I need for you to look at it and it relates to you in some way.

The style came from experimenting with these drawings and seeing what I can do…how far I can push it, how far I can pull back, all with a burnt piece of wood. It’s never been the blank canvas and let’s just paint. It’s always been the drawing that I’ve done three sketches for and then done the under drawing for, THEN I’m confident enough to then put paint on it. I’m always building and taking away. I can’t stop drawing, so let me keep practicing. Working on my technique, I’m at a much better place. Now I’m getting back to the storytelling, and who knows what I can come up with. The possibilities are endless. That’s a wrap.”