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I was born on the Island of Puerto Rico on a 10th of October. Having been born under the influence of the "Libra"
sign of the zodiac, art in all its phases would be like a second nature to me.
I started venturing in art at the tender age of seven. My first artistic activity was building dollhouses. This all arose
from my desire to build my "dreamhouse." When I was five years old I had a beautiful dollhouse. When my family moved
to New York my dollhouse was left behind. My mother promised she would buy me another one, but for one reason or another that
house was never bought and I longed to have one. It was then that I started building my little houses turning them into small
towns. At first I used shoe boxes to build them. Afterwards I built them using hard cardboard. By the time I was in high school
I was building my houses with wood. Here are two examples:
The house on the left is called the "House of March". It
belongs to a series of houses I built, one for each month of the year. This one was built during the month of March.
The
house on the right is called the "House of February." It is a typical town and country house on the Island of Puerto Rico.
This one is similar to the house in which our first governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, lived in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico.
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| Bushwick High School, Brookly, N.Y. |
After graduating from Bushwick High School my family moved back to the Island and there I entered the
University of Puerto Rico where I studied music and art obtaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree in these subjects and a Minor
in English.
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During all these years, besides teaching, I have not only dedicated my life to building dollhouses
and the furniture to go with them, but also little churches and chapels. I have done many paintings and drawings, some woodcarving
(very little). Part of my life has been dedicated to music. I can play the piano and the guitar.
This is when I graduated from the University of Puerto Rico. I am the first one at the left.
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For thirty-three years I taught English, Art, and Music in the elementary grade level,
especially grades four, five, and six. On certain occasions
I also taught Spanish. During only two years I taught in Junior High School grades
7, 8 and 9..
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| Apples and Chalkdust |
A shiny red apple is nice, but you need much more to touch the lives of your students.
Teachers all over the world share the bond of a unique profession. We possess the awesome responsibility and the distinct
privilege of standing before our students not only as educators, but also as caregivers, counselors, and protectors.
We
teachers share a special bond. It is this bond, our shared passion for touching our students' lives that enables us to understand
each other. And through this understanding, we are able to offer each other friendship, expertise, and strength
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What I am not good at is selling my art. I'd give them away to anyone I knew really appreciated
them. At other times I have found it difficult to part with each creation because I always call them my children since they
are born from my hands and my heart.
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