Born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, Carla Bustamante de Veliz creates works of unselfconscious passion. Her bold use of color in both her abstract and figurative works speaks of Carla’s great joy of life and her belief that it should be lived to the fullest.

Carla’s work draws on her life experience, capturing people, places and emotions she has personally experienced. Her figurative paintings in particular cause us to identify with the work either through recognizing ourselves or someone else in the subject. Her abstracts speak of deep emotion, but always with an undercurrent of happiness. Even her darkest works are painted with such freedom that the joy of creativity underlines the subject matter, no matter how tormented they may appear on the surface.

Although she is only in her early thirties, Carla’s work exhibits a depth and sensitivity typical of much older artists. Give the fact that she has been exhibiting her work since the age of ten; perhaps this maturity is not surprising. Carla was only fifteen when she won a statewide art competition in Coahuila and was commissioned to create a mural for a local business. Speaking nothing but Spanish, she then went to the prestigious Art Institute of Houston, where over the course of her studies, she taught herself English.

The difficulties of leaving her country and adjusting to a new language have made Carla respectful of struggle and the part it plays in molding all of us. However, she chooses not to dwell on hardship, firmly believing that happiness is a choice. The exuberance of her works exemplifies this belief. Now happily married and the mother of twins, Carla has much joy and will continue to convey it to canvas.