Inpsired by the Local Landscape, Meet Alma Ramirez

Updated: Mar 10, 2019

Alma Ramirez has been painting her whole life but found her true self as an abstract artist four years ago. Since then she has seen her life as a painter become a full-time career and her work in multiple galleries.

Tell me where you are from and what brought you to Northeast Florida?

I was born and raised in Mexico on the border of Texas. I went to El Paso when I was 18 years old. I’m the only artist and the only one in my family to leave, everyone else is in the medical field and are still living there. In 2008 after I graduated with a Fine Art degree, I wanted to travel the world, see new places, and experience new cultures. I convinced my husband at the time to move overseas, we lived in Austria for six months and it was amazing. Learning a new language and living a new life opened my mind tremendously. I really liked it so we decided to continue and then moved to Germany, close to Frankfurt for three years. I did a lot of traveling throughout Europe during those years. My son was born in Germany and we came to Jacksonville in 2014.

Did you learn German?

I did because I was living with a family that had little ones and I needed to be able to communicate with them, so I went to school for German, but then fell in love with all languages. I grew up with English but found German easier to learn, I picked it up in four months. I also learned Italian and Portuguese and can understand the meaning of a conversation in French too.

Was your family supportive of your travels and your decision to be an artist?

My family was always supportive, especially my dad. My mom was visiting recently and she was very happy to see me working and doing well. Especially as a woman and single mother. It’s not easy, but it is possible. It’s been a wonderful journey, I never thought I would make a living with my art. I think it’s the perfect time to be an artist because of social media. You can show people what you are doing and not have to wait for the gallery. I am contacted by people all over the world and receive a lot of response on my art through social media.

Have you always been a painter and how has your work changed over the years?

I’ve always been a painter, although I did try sculpture and loved it but never gave it much time because I was focused on my painting. I was always a realist painter and when I was in school I was much more technical in my paintings, trying to master faces and human bodies. My work at that time didn’t feel like me.

My work now is much more emotional, I try to project what I am feeling on canvas. Everyone will view a painting differently which I think is wonderful, but there was one time when I approached this woman looking at one of my paintings and introduced myself. She said to me “I feel the same way”. We continued to discuss the painting and I have to say it was the best moment in my career so far. To be able to convey something I was feeling in a painting and for someone to identify with the painting, in the same way, was truly amazing!

When did you start focusing on your art as a career?

Even though I’ve been painting my whole life, I always say I started painting four years ago because my art is truly me now. When I became a mom, I was dedicated to only that and stopped drawing and painting altogether. I stopped doing everything else I loved and it gave me a feeling of emptiness. I didn’t realize this until I started walking the beach every day which inspired me to start mixing colors and playing around on a canvas.

One day my sister came to town and saw my 12x12 paintings and thought they were really good and that I should bring them with us to St. Augustine for the day and show a gallery. I never intended for these paintings to be shown to galleries and I never intended to be an abstract artist either. These paintings were sketches to me, they were my meditation, but she convinced me to bring them with us.

We walked into Plum Gallery and I saw Karen and mentioned my paintings to her and right away she said they weren’t taking on more artists at this time and said thank you. I asked if I could at least show her for an opinion and as soon as she saw them she immediately said, “I’ll take them”.

She asked me what I charge and I couldn’t answer, I had no idea. She thought they were beautiful and gave me some ideas on price and said she’d try them out. She ended up selling six in the first month and the following month she asked for more and requested some bigger pieces. I started getting excited because I was making money from my art, which then went into more supplies.

I had hesitated to invest more money into my art, but when I realized that once I stopped treating it like a hobby and treated it as a career the galleries would see that I was a committed artist and would take me seriously. I show up every day, even if I have to drag myself into my studio. This was definitely the turning point in my career.

Tell me about your medium

It’s semi-realist or semi-abstract. I do a combination between realistic and abstract to give a new perspective on the world. I use color to help people see more and question themselves when looking at one of my paintings. There is more to see with color and if you look in nature you will find that these colors are there as well.

Do you take a picture of what you want to paint?

Sometimes, but I will also sketch. I like to go to the Salt Run, it’s quiet there and I can spend hours drawing. I prefer to sketch because I will capture more in a scene then I would with a camera. I like to go to Amelia Island to sketch as well.

What inspired you to start painting in this color palette?

When I first moved to this area the colors in nature inspired me. I grew up in the desert, so living near the water is a big thing for me and the colors are so different. Where I grew up I would use a lot of terra cotta, sienna, and earthy colors in my paintings. All of my paintings are in the pastels because the environment here has these colors in it. I especially love to go outside at 6 or 7pm when the sun is beginning to set and the colors change in the landscape. Sometimes I get tired of using the same colors so I take a break and explore something else which is nice because when I come back to my pastels and turquoises, I look at it in a new perspective. I recently did some palm trees for fun, I wanted to try something new. When I came back to the boats, my lines and colors were different.

What do you find the most challenging?

Choosing a title for a painting is the hardest part for me. A painting for me is a journey and I don’t want the title to dictate the meaning of the painting for someone else.

What’s one of the most memorable experiences you had with a customer?

One time I sold the same painting at the same time to two different people. I thought it was the same buyer because of the timing, so when I realized it was two separate buyers I had to tell the other person it sold but offered to paint another. I tried to give her more value by doing a commission painting and told her sometimes I get inspired by a melody or a specific sound like a waterfall. I don’t know what made me say that to this client but she was excited, turns out she is a composer and musician. She gave me the freedom to create a painting based off the music she loved. I painted an abstract for her and she was very pleased with it and now I love that music too. It was a great experience!

Do you always do First Friday Art Walk?

I try to, it’s a great way to meet other artists and people interested in art. Being surrounded by other talented artists inspires tremendously and I love being able to answer people’s questions and see their reactions to my paintings. My art means something to me, but I always wonder what it means to someone else.

There was a woman I met that bought one of my paintings and she told me that every time she walks by my painting it makes her feel happy. I thought what a great thing, to spread happiness through my art.