It's Member Spotlight Time.....

....and this time it is shining on

Nydia Dominguez.

How did you find Paper Traders? I was invited by Pam Prosser to check you guys out since I was enjoying expanding my artwork to outer limits.

How long have you been a member? I have only been with the group for a few months. I was welcomed into Paper_Traders in March 2013

Where do you live? I live in Meriden, Connecticut in the USA.

How have your surroundings affected your art? I tend to look around me to see what I can use to include in any of my projects. The seasons also affect my artwork as I love to use botanical, birds and seasonal themes. I adore Spring! It gives me life. I am reborn along with the buds and blossoms after all the snow melts away.

Please share a little about your own art experience. I was always drawn to art as a child. Drawing at the kitchen table. I went on in studies in Art. I have a BS in Studio Art.

What are some of your favorite techniques or genres? My favorite medium are soft pastels but I have been turned on to collage and mixed medium and get get enough of it!

What inspires you? Beauty around me, Springtime, and bright colors.

Who are some famous artists whose work you admire and what especially appeals to you about this? Leonardo DaVinci especially for his drawings and studies, Frida Kalo for the colors and thought process in her paintings and Georgia O'Keeffe for her botanical work.

Describe your work area... Do you have your own studio or craft room? My studio is pretty messy and cluttered(I think I need to save so many things). I am in the process of re-doing it to have it organized.

What tips or tricks have you found to help carve out a niche for your supplies and art? Bins so far...I've researched, measured my studio room and will have my sister and brother-in-law build me my work area, counters and cubbies...now to empty out my studio into large bins! hahaha...

Please share a little about your family and pets... I am married to a big rig trucker, and have two sons(16 and 26). I have a granddaughter and a grandson (expected any day now) and a Skye Terrier.

If you'd like, please share a little about your childhood, where you grew up, and when your creativity began. I am the first born of 3 siblings and I tended to be shy. I used to aways draw on scraps and napkins and doodled all over in my notebooks. My favorite class was art.

Do you have any other hobbies or interests? I collect anything that has ladybugs on it!... my youngest son has Aspergers Syndrome(On the Autism Spectrum). I am focused on sharing Autism Awareness in our community. I teach Art to teens and young adults on the Spectrum at Autism Services and Resource Center

The work I have included is recent for the Puerto Rican Festival we just had this past Sunday. I sold The Magi 14x17 collage.

~Nydia
http://nydiart.blogspot.com