We were lucky to catch up with Vincent Zuniaga recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vincent , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

My grandma used to take me to different museums in Downtown Caracas, Venezuela. Also I accompanied her to Opera, Classical Orchestra, Theater Shows and Chorus Concerts where my aunt and uncle performed.

I drew and painted a lot as a kid and as a teenager. My grandma believed that I had a gift for art and urged me to enroll in art school. I never followed her advice and life took me in a different direction for a while, but I have always had art in my life in some way.

In each city around the world That I had the fortune to visit or lived in, I always tried my best to visit their art museums. One of the most memorable one, my visit to the Neue Galerie in N.Y. City to see Lady in Gold from Gustav Klimt.

After working as a professional dog show handler for more than 20 years, I decided to retire and moved into photography and I worked as a freelance photographer.

Digital photography editing is a rich process that made me learn digital painting and never stopped since then.
I have been lucky enough to sell my artwork to private collectors and through art galleries. Also commissioned art.

In the end, I just came back to do what I did since I was a kid.

Vincent , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have a strong connection with dogs, after all those years working with them. I’m fascinated with water, its movement, water reflection and colors. Even water such as snow or rain or ocean. This is coming from my years as a photographer and my love for long exposure photography.

These are elements you will find constantly in my artwork. My artwork Splash Dogs is a series of digital paintings in which those elements are present. Dogs playing in water, running waves or diving in a pool or river.
When dogs like water, they love having fun in it and that is what I’m focusing on in my paintings. The dog’s fun and how the water behaves around them.

Colorful Dogs Portraits, is another series of digital paintings where I created a specific palette of colors and carefully selected the location of the colors on the dog portrait that create a vibrant representation of the dog with intense colors.

With my long experience with dogs and a vast library of dogs portrait library from my years doing dog shows photos, I can choose beautiful portrait images as the reference for the Colorful Dogs Portrait series.

I’m currently in the process of developing a Dogs in Winter series.
The water as snow and the interaction or as background for the dogs in that very special season of the year.
I will make the very first painting of this series public soon.

Also captivating me is yoga at the beach. A combination of sunset or sunrise colors, waves, water reflection and a yoga pose create an atmosphere magical and of harmony.
I like to enjoy a powerful yoga pose with a beautiful landscape.

As a photographer, I did a couple yoga photoshoots at the beach with gorgeous photos as the results.
But my photographer creativity is always making me think, what would happen if I could do these photos at this other beach or during sunset or sunrise or by the river, etc.
With my digital paintings I can recreate all those scenarios my creativity brings to my mind.

For my clients I commission digital paintings of their pets in the water, or their dog’s photo as colorful portraits.
Additionally I take commission artwork for yoga at the beach or specific landscape. From a photo or a pose chosen for the client.

All my artwork is printed on metal that shines brightly in any setting or art collection. The pieces are mounted with an offset system that gives an appearance of floating on your wall. The finish is archival quality and easy care.
All prints are made in a fine art print lab with an art gallery final product.

NFT (digital file registered on the Block Chain) options can be part of a package that includes copyright license release.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

NFT is a new tool that will be another way that will empower artists to have more control over their art and licenses options. The secondary sales will be a very interesting factor too, it will be a revenue that artists did have access to.

This is a new art revolution but we are just in the beginning. We need to wait until this technology goes more “main street” so people are more comfortable with it. For now NFT are an uncomfortable technology for the majority of the people, like the transition from checks to credit card/debit cards.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I moved to the USA from Venezuela to work showing dogs, turning them into champions. I had to find my way around the states navigating with gas station maps long before Google existed. I was determined to learn English on my own and did so by watching soap operas and getting into the stories.

I always liked art and when I decided to learn photography, I taught myself by studying YouTube videos. The Public Library in Orlando, Florida had an impressive arts program and media center where I was able to take a PhotoShop course and experiment with studio lighting.

Everything I have been able to do with my photography, whether Fine Art or Art Shows, was based on public library resources and my desire to learn, practice and push forward with my own road map.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vincentzphotos.com
• Instagram: @vincentzphotos
• Facebook: PicsbyVincent
• Linkedin: vincentzart
• Twitter: @vincentzphotos

Image Credits
Portrait photo: Kimberly Buchheit Digital Art: Vincent Zuniaga