Toroazul Painting and Fine Arts
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oil paintings

fresco paintings

panels and
murals

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pastels, colored
pencil, and
gouache

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S e l f  -  p o r t r a i  t
pen and ink   7 "  x   6.5 "
1973
I am a graduate of  St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, known for its unique  
“Great Books,” classical liberal arts curriculum. I also hold a master’s degree in art and
Spanish literature from the
University of Delaware in Newark.

My artwork has been exhibited in parts of the United States, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil,
and, more recently,  Kuwait. Private corporate collectors of my canvases and murals
include the Motorola-Nortel Corporation in Caracas, Venezuela, and Emilio and Gloria
Estefan's restaurant,
BONGOS.

In May 2002, I had the honor of designing the University of Miami’s large
exhibit space for
CubaNostalgia, a yearly fair of Cuban memorabilia and culture held at the Coconut Grove
Convention Center in Miami, Florida, USA.  Also in May 2004, I led a group of students
from the same university to Florence, Italy, to study the history and technique of FRESCO
painting and restoration. For six weeks, we studied at the
Spinelli Institute of Art and Art
Restoration, the classes under the direction of professors  Maria Grazia Badino, Rodolfo
Bargelli, and Tiziano Lucchesi.   


At present, I reside in Rome, Italy, where I teach freehand drawing and basic architectural
drawing for various schools as well as privately. In addition, I work for
Context Travel and
lead a wide variety of walks for this agency in both Rome and several other areas of Italy.
(Please
CLICK on this link to read more about my tours.)  I have taught Western and non-
Western art survey classes at the university level.  Please click here to view my RESUME
for a full list of the individual topics in literature, art, and philosophy, that I have lectured
on in recent years. These conference venues  include the Lowe Art Museum’s Docent
Guild; Pesqueira Gallery in Key Biscayne; the Art Institute of Miami, directed by Peruvian
artist Puchi Noriega; the Boca Raton Museum of Art; and the
UM Institute for Retired
Professionals, directed by Noreen Frye.  
Brazilian landscape (Juquehy)
CLICK HERE  to view this work!
I am a Cuban-born artist. My family moved to the United States in 1963 -- settling in
Wilmington, Delaware. Although I returned once to my hometown of
Camagüey, Cuba --
please
CLICK here to read the essay I wrote about my journey -- my artist's sketchbooks are
filled more with drawings and notes from my frequent travels to and sojourns in
Italy,South
America, and the Caribbean, than  they  are  with  firsthand  notes  from
Cuba.  The Miami
River
and waterside area of Coconut Grove in Miami have also drawn me and my sketchbooks
to them over the years.

The panoramic view of Juquehy, Brazil, above, is one of hundreds of seascapes and scenes
inspired in me by Brazil. If you look closely at the lower right hand corner of this colored
drawing, you will see a painter painting a canvas, near the statue of St. Anthony in the garden
nearby. Ideally, a painter should see himself as well as his subject INSIDE the picture he is
creating. The references to St. Anthony and to the Greek deity Pan (the reclining nude figure
playing the flute on the left side) also sum up my two main sources of inspiration on a deeper
level -- my religious upbringing  and my passionate interest in classical antiquity.

I work in pencil, pastel, pen and ink, watercolor, oil, acrylic, and, more recently, the
challenging FRESCO technique –- that is, wall murals painted while the wall’s plaster surface
of lime, sand, and water is still wet or fresh (“fresco”).
(
CLICK here to learn more about my FRESCO work!)
The Native Breath of Camagüey
Click on the image to read the
essay  description of my first
return journey to Cuba after 36
years
.
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CLICK here to read artist's
RESUME
Click here to see
where I live now