Artist Statement.
The art pieces shown here are part of the Collection:
“REAL People, REAL Beauty”, which marks a before and
after in my process as an artist. It’s the
metamorphosis between my old blurred vision of the
world around me, and a completely reborn way to see
life and treasure the everyday moments and people
around us capturing their beauty and unmeasurable
worth. It’s a childlike ability to get amazed for the
things we take for granted and have a truly grateful
heart for them. I would like to transmit this in a hope
to touch the heart of those who see this collection so
they can open their eyes to see the beauty around us
and realize that the simple moments and the everyday
people around us, are indeed the most important.
Biography.
Lariza Iler was born in northern Mexico in 1979 to
Humberto and Martha Flores. One of her earliest
memories was being seated beside her childhood
house’s fireplace and have her dad’s best friend ask
her what she wanted to be when she grew up. “An
artist” she replied.
In upper elementary school she had a glimpse of the
art world by taking oil painting classes when she was
11, and then some drawing in the art workshop in
middle school. But in the rural area where she grew
up there weren’t colleges where she could study art,
and the recession of 1994 was still being felt in the
families economy. So, she became a teacher as her
whole family dynasty and worked for 10 years with the
Mexican Secretary of Education, mostly as a
kindergarten teacher in low income and rural areas. In
2009 she met the man who would become her
husband Donald, and together they started a family in
2010. In 2011 Donnie H. was born and a decision was
made of leave the classrooms to become a full time
mom and eventually a homeschool mom. Days were
filled with homeschool co-ops, classes, starting chess
clubs in the community and online, extracurricular
activities and family time.
However, deep in her heart was still a dream of
painting, and painting portraits one day. She heard the
oil painting instructor say one day that was the harder
thing to learn in painting and she never forgot that.
She started buying books about drawing faces and
self-learned the tools and techniques, putting together
her first collection of portraits made with pencil over
paper “Victoria Gratitude Collection” an inspiring art
collection that was displayed in Del Río Council for
the arts in 2014. In 2020 she was able to find a
painting challenge of painting acrylic portraits online
during the quarantine months under the direction of
Mr. Philleo, which helped her to do the transition to
color in her portraits. That’s how “The Dream of
Portraits” was born. Unfortunately, her health
declined as she went through uterine cancer a year
later, and the art had to wait again. After being able by
God’s grace to be in remission, she participated in Del
Río Spring fest in Del Río Council for the Arts where
she was awarded first, second and third places
awards within a two year frame.
After this second chance to stay alive, her heart has
now a deeper appreciation for the beauty around us,
and her art intentionally captures real life moments
and powerful messages. Her paintings are now
displayed in exhibits in South Texas and prints of
them can be seen and ordered through her website.
Painting is now a strong purpose in her life.