My mother said that I would never stay still, even in her belly. I've always had a lot of energy, was very electric and could never be left alone because I was always looking for trouble. When I was 4, I put a key in the socket to see if my hair would stand on end. It did! At 5, I scribbled all over my bedroom wall with crayon.
My fantasy until the age of 10, was to be Pelé. But since then I’ve never had any idols. Many people end up mirroring themselves in other’s dreams and ideals which is fine, but guess I always followed my intuition, my gut feelings and believed that I could get anywhere I wanted through hard work, knowledge and willpower. I believe that only by experiencing things and challenging yourself you will be able to know your own truth and what is really best for you.
I always saw myself doing Graffiti, ever since I was a teenager: I've always identified myself with street movements; I practiced skateboarding; I've been part of a band. I could never see myself working in an office, following goals for next year. If I was invited to a birthday or a wedding party for example and I had to take a gift, I always painted a canvas of the person or the couple. The present was always a success and I received requests for painting canvas for friends.
The hardest thing to do when starting a profesisonal career is to begin. Imagine in 1994, I had no experience, no references, internet, training, materials or money. So I started working at the age of 12 to be able to invest in my dream, which was to be a professional artist. I invested everything I earned in sprays, drawing magazines and art books. I dove deep into this universe to bring out the best I could be.
The most useful piece of advice I’ve been given is: “you learn more from opening your eyes than opening your mouth.” My mum used to say this to me.
I always wondered, when I thought about London: who is the person that changes the battery in that big clock? I've always had a lot of admiration for London culture, we had many excellent references from artists who were very advanced for their time, such as David Bowie, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and the incredible telephone booth, Agatha Christie, J.K. Howling with the incredible Harry Potter, William Shakespeare, Mr Bean and the incredible Banksy with his emblematic artworks.
The first time I came to London was to do a private job in 2013. I returned several times until 2018 when I was invited to hold an exhibition with live painting at the Brazilian Embassy in London. From then on I moved here permanently, opened my own company and started to attend and develop commissioned work for companies, London Continental Railway, Battersea Power Station, Bizzarrini, or workshops for celebrities. London is a city that encourages you to grow because there are a lot of good people in the market. I always motivate and artistically challenge myself to progress, this helped me a lot in choosing the city. The hardest part for me was adapting to the weather. I've always lived in beach towns with a lot of sun.
Latinos are good problem solvers. We’ve had to develop this skill because we never had Government on our side. These adversities also make us more united.
In 2007 I got a repetitive strain shoulder injury that forced me to rethink my way of working. I started thinking of my work in a more intelligent way, where I would spend more time preparing the work and less time executing it. It was there that I developed new techniques and the quality of the work took off in a meteoric way.
In 2010 I read “Rich dad poor dad” from Robert T. Kiyosaki which was a big game changer for me in terms of learning how to have a rich "mindset". Wealth is a state of mind and not the amount of money you have. You can go bankrupt and run out of money, but you will never be poor if you have a millionaire mentality. “You're only poor if you give up. The most important thing is that you did something. Most people only talk and dream of getting rich. You've done something.”
Once, a lady threw a £100 tip in my paintbox whilst I was doing graffiti on the street in Waterloo. She told me the work was beautiful and to buy more sprays to continue keeping the city even more beautiful.
I love making people smile gives me a lot of pleasure, because it's a way to leave a little of what you are to someone and take a little of what that person is to yourself.
I hate queuing in the post office. Because it is definitely a place where there is nothing interesting to see and a lot of time is wasted doing nothing while you are waiting.
What's essential to me is physical activity...for body and mind. That's why I go to the gym every day. When I return from the gym I focus a lot on art projects in progress, relationship building with clients and responding to quotes.
I’d tell me younger self…Please, improve your English! LOL. Also you should treat your time better. When you reach your 40s, the relationship with it is different. Everything seems to go by much faster. When you become mature you start valuing small things.
My favourite places in London are Richmond Park, Maltby Street Market, Victoria and Albert museum, La Farola Café, Richmond Park, Terrace Bar at Tate Modern and Dulwich Park
My favourite word in English is Gorgeous
The word I most dislike is Complain
