Today we’d like to introduce you to Lili Aguilar.
Hi Lili, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Thanks for having me! I’m grateful to have grown up in a family that encouraged me to express myself through art from a very early age. I remember my mom helping me learn how to draw perspective as a young child and enrolling me in art classes for painting as soon as she saw how interested I was in art. I can’t remember a time in my life where creating—whether it was drawing, painting, or even making mud sculptures in the backyard with my siblings—wasn’t a part of my life on a daily basis.
From there, my skill developed naturally as I went into middle and high school art classes, expanding into digital art, then to watercolor and oil painting. Unfortunately, as I came into adulthood and started working full-time to support myself, my art fell to the wayside; after being furloughed during the start of the pandemic, however, that all changed for me. The last two years have allowed me to expand my artistic style in many ways, and even sell my art in the form of pet portraits, jewelry, and mixed media pieces! It’s been a blast to paint my friends’ and family’s pets, and heartwarming to see that even those who don’t know me are interested in my art.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Everyone experiences struggle in their own way, but for me art became the cornerstone in my ability to overcome and grow from some of the circumstances of my childhood. My parents split when I was about 8, and my mother subsequently moved my siblings and I from Missouri to Texas to live with my grandparents. Life was not always easy for my parents, my father having migrated to the U.S. from Mexico as a teenager and my mother having struggled with her own mental health throughout life, but they (and my grandparents, especially!) always worked hard to secure a life for my brother, sister and I that’s safe, happy, and comfortable. Art was the way I found reprieve from the hardships that accompanied many of these big childhood changes: we moved around a lot, but anywhere I went, I always had art! In a life of constantly shifting environments and experiences, creating art was—and still is—a constant positive force I could rely on.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m practiced in many different media, but my true love definitely lies in painting. Recently, I’ve been selling acrylic pet portraits, ranging from 3x3in fridge magnet portraits to 18x24in portraits. I’ve been developing my own eclectic and colorful style for these portraits, having completed around 20 of them for friends, family, and others since October of last year. For my own personal enjoyment, however, oil painting has been my main focus. I love delving into the realms of the psychedelic, surreal, and symbolic to conjure dream-like images I can express through paint.
What’s next?
Jewelry, jewelry, jewelry! My grandfather was gracious enough to set me up with “baby’s first” jewelry making tools last Christmas, including tools for wire-wrapping and for gem setting semi-precious jewelry as well. I’m looking forward to expanding my jewelry-making cache, hoping to eventually move into the world of silversmithing!
Pricing:
- $20 for 3x3in custom fridge magnet pet portrait
- $15 for most pairs of handmade earrings on my Etsy shop
- $50+ for larger pet portraits, 8x10in and above
- $18 for mixed media native Texas mushroom magnets
Contact Info:
- Email: moonbleeder66@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/moonbleeder
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonbleeder/
Image Credits
Lili Aguilar
