Elsa Mora

My name is Elsa Mora and my nickname is Elsita (but you can call me either way :) . I am a multimedia Artist living in Los Angeles, CA with my husband Bill, who is a Film Producer, and our three children. One of our children (almost 4) is Autistic and he keeps us grounded as a family :)

I am 38 years old but I look like 37. I was always the shortest one in my class (5.2). I was born in Holguin, a province in the island of Cuba. I was raised by the free educational Cuban system and sometimes also by my family. I grew up poor but only in the material sense of the word. My emotional life was pretty rich since I was always surrounded by the most fascinating people, starting with my own Mom. She never had any formal education (her father took her out of school when she was in the third grade) but she knew a lot of things that you don't learn at school. She passed lots of those lessons to me and I always thank her for that.

I left home when I was fifteen and then moved to Camaguey where I graduated from the Art School in 1990. Like everybody else there, along with our diploma we got the illusion of being famous artists. After a while I updated my expectations to being a good Artist and since about 7 years ago I decided that along with making things that express who I am and how I see the world, I also want to be a happy person because life is too short.

My first job was as an Art Teacher for two years. I was only 19 and my students were from 12 to 13 years old. It was a great experience, but in the end I had to leave the job because I needed to put some focus on myself. I gave them everything I had then: all my time, support and understanding.

After this I worked at an art gallery for a year but since there was nothing useful for me to do over there I decided to become a full-time Artist. The transition was a hard one. I had two lives; one doing art at night and another one selling anything that I could make with my hands. Here I have to give credit to my Mom again because around that time she never failed to send me 10 pesos cubanos a month for support.

I moved to Havana in 1995 with the help of a friend to whom I owe so much. Thank you forever Debra. In Havana I married a man who did many nice things for me but the marriage just didn't work so we got divorced. Nobody's fault, that's OK. Special thanks to him too.

In 2001 just when I was finally getting divorced I met Bill my current husband (and hopefully the last one) in Havana. A short time after that I moved to Los Angeles, California where we now live with our two children and my stepson. Our youngest son Diego was diagnosed with Autism in 2007 when he was only 26 months old, he has become our best teacher and he keeps us grounded as a family. My husband is from Chicago and he is a great guy. I love him very much and I hope that in 50 years I still do :) Bill is a great Film Producer here in Hollywood, the kind of film producer who has good taste and cares about quality films. Bravo for Bill!

From my studio in Los Angeles I keep working on creating my art. And I have been lucky enough to find interest in my work at galleries and museums around the world. I have been participating in solo and group shows every year.
My work is about human nature, about the way we are and the way we interact with each other, with ourselves and with the rest of the world. I enjoy working in different media like painting, ceramic, drawing, photography, installation illustration and in 2008 I discovered the magic of papercutting. I have a special blog within my main blog dedicated to the art of papercuts, I am fascinated with this art form.
And I also have a blog dedicated to personal style and self-expression.

In 2007 I opened an online store on Etsy and oh boy, do I enjoy this? 100% because this is all my own little business, a mini planet Elsita where I am the President, the Assistant and the Post Office Girl. Through this business you can re-invent yourself. I highly recommend it.

That's it right now. All the rest about me will be found in the posts. Hasta la vista!
Elsita :)