Bettsy Garcia Montijo(1978)

Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.

I grew up in a small town in Mexico, Ures, where I was influenced at an early age, by my grandmother Consuelo Villasenor. She was a painter and pianist. My afternoons were spend watching my nana painting with oil and learning to draw from a book that my mother had borrowed.

Despite loving art so much, I decided to get a bachelor degree in Clinic Chemistry at the University of Sonora(2000) looking for stability in the future. Later on, I accomplished a long time dream.  I got into a MFA graduate degree program,  in studio art at the University of Arizona (2007) while working in a research laboratory.  My work distinguished from the other students for being a mixture of political, genre and scientific elements holding a message in figurative paintings.

I am part self thought artist in charcoal, pastel, gauge and watercolour techniques. In my early twenties I took classes at Pima Community College of Az and in the University of Arizona to learn art history, acrylic, mural and oil painting. During my studies in art, I learned a lot from professors such as Alfred Quiroz, Moira Geoffrion and Barbara Rogers. They pushed my limits, challenged my thoughts, deepened my research process and skills as figurative painter.

The only time where I feel secure and fearful, expectant, frustrated, free with a calm but pounding heart for hours is, when I paint. It is like entering to another dimension where time stops and memories of my past come to life around me. Painting is my passion because of how I am, because transcends the languages and cultural barriers with just shapes, colours, textures in images.

Since 2001 to this date, my family and I have been moving to USA, Singapore, China and currently we are living in Philippines. Each place has giving us different experiences and the taste of their culture. I am fortunate to be able to teach children and adults at my studio since 2015 and, work full time as independent artist. I experience the colours, culture, traditions and food from my surroundings. I let that permeate in my art. I work in two different streams. One is dedicated to free my imagination to create a non-ruled world where animals live happily and, color dominates the landscape for children to discover. The other stream,  is to let my thoughts about my environment to take shape, to express genre, socio-political issues, to create a connection with adult audiences.