Artist Profile: Maria Blanes
Puerto-Rican
born Maria Blanes moved to Gainesville, Florida, seven years ago. Then, just before her
final year of high school, Maria's family was relocated to Oviedo, Florida. Although Maria
had taken art classes in drawing and composition in Gainesville, she was delighted to
discover that she would be able to study a completely different medium – sculpture
– in the AP Studio Art class at her new school. "I had a great relationship with
my teacher, Mrs. Coffman," remembers Maria. "And our class was very small, so we
all got really close." The piece featured here was Maria's very first sculpture,
which she created on her living room floor. When you talk to Maria, her personality doesn't reflect the geometric and rigid shapes of her sculpture. She loves a wide variety of music: classical when she does ballet en-pointe, the local rock band Meringue when she is studying; and reggae when she is dancing at clubs. In addition to this creative and fun side of Maria, she has a serious side when it comes to studying medicine. She is currently a second-semester student at the University of Central Florida, where she is taking biology, chemistry, statistics, psychology, and "lots of other really fun stuff!" She is also a member of the Spanish club.
Maria is enjoying college life and especially likes being able to live at home with her family (the college is only five minutes away). Once Maria's schedule frees up at school, she hopes to take some art classes again and possibly minor in the art field. "I don't want to give it up completely," says Maria. "It's like therapy for me, and who knows - maybe I can use it if I get my dream job doing physical rehabilitation for children."
Other than finishing medical school in three more years, Maria is excited about visiting her extended family in Puerto Rico next December. "The holidays are a big deal in my home country, and I can't wait to celebrate the millennium with my family!"
February 1999