Born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Rafael received early training from the age of 10 in tempera, watercolors and oils.  He attended private ateliers run by local artists.  He entered university when he was 16 years old and continued painting during college and his early career as a professional electrical engineer.

Rafael 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.  Some of his favorite subjects are figures, still life, and landscapes, and his favorite mediums are oil, watercolor and gouache.

Rafael is a strong advocate of pictorial composition and design.  For him, the painting's 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.

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."

Come meet Rafael at his show's opening on First Friday Art Walk, March 1, 2019, at P.A.St.A. Art Gallery, 214 Charlotte Street, from 5:00-9:00 p.m.  Refreshments served.  Always free.