Raquel Fuentes is a Venezuelan born, mostly self-taught abstract artist based in Vaughan, Ontario. Since she was young, she had a love for all that was artistic. After her family moved to Canada from Venezuela, she enrolled at a local college and did one year in a general design program. However, she was unsure if she should pursue art as a professional career and pursued a different path. Nevertheless, she always kept art and painting in her heart. After many years working in the legal corporate world and most recently experiencing some anxiety while going through some personal life changes, she has reconnected with her love of painting. The whole experience was healing and transformative whereas she felt inspired to continue her art journey that stopped in her late teens and to pursue it now more seriously.

“I find art to be healing, therapeutic and a release and expression to my soul. My creative process is heavily guided by my intuition and the different energies that surround us. My work showcases my love for vibrant, vivid and bold colours combinations, as well as textures. I am a big believer in the energy and power of colour.”She is also a big believer that everyone has a special light within them and by sharing it with everyone, you make the world brighter. With that belief, she created the hashtag #shineyourlightthruart with hopes to inspire others to shine their own light!

What are your favourite techniques when creating new work?

I love playing with textures and exploring different bold colour combinations. I also really like to use other tools aside from brushes. I really like using the palette knife but one of my favourite tools that I love using is a rubber squeegee and exploring its different effects.

What brought you to painting as a medium rather than another form of artistic expression?

It makes me happy doing it. I feel the most freedom and the most fluid creatively when I am painting. It is a big release of energy once an idea or a piece of work comes to life. I love abstract art, as it allows me to really express myself without any expectations.

In your opinion, what makes your work unique?

In my work, each part of the painting is a little part of me that expresses itself that way. Some styles may be similar amongst artists, but each artist has that uniqueness that they add to their own work.

You can view and purchase Raquel’s work here or follow her @raquelfuentesart for more!