Rafael A. Pasarell is P.A.St.A. Art Gallery's Featured Artist for May 2017.  Born in the mid 40's and raised in Ponce, PR, Rafael received early training from the age of 10 in tempera, watercolors and oils.  He attended private ateliers run by local artists.

Entering university when he was 16, he continued painting during college and his early career as a professional electrical engineer.

He restarted study and training in oils in 2010 after an interesting period in corporate management, lighting design and sales.  He has lived and traveled extensively in the U. S. and Europe.

His artistic tendencies are for representational painting.  Favorite subjects include figures, still life, and landscapes, and his favorite mediums are oil, watercolor, and gouache.

Rafael is a strong advocate of pictorial composition and design.  The same as buildings, paintings need an unseen framework for them to do their task.  For him, the paintings task is to bring an emotional response to the viewer, a smile, a remembrance, awe, maybe a bit of nostalgia or a hint of romance.

Most of his studio paintings take a considerably longer time in the gestation and planning stage than in the actual rendering.

His statement regarding life and art is:  "We cannot copy nature; at the most, we can offer an illusory suggestion to be filtered and interpreted within our limited senses."

First Friday Art Walk Opening:  5 - 9 p.m.  Refreshments served.