We recently connected with Diego Vallejos and have shared our conversation below.
Diego, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
In 2012 when taking my first art class, I started thinking about how I could create my art into something more meaningful for people to really connect with on an emotional level, even if they were not art enthusiasts. I was dwelling on this idea for years, but it wasn’t until 2017 that it fully formed. The idea was to create custom portraits using ashes, in order to commemorate the ones we loved and lost. I learned how to incorporate ashes into special oil paints I mixed by hand. It is a delicate process, and I know a lot of people will be against it due to religion, but I took the risk. How beautiful is it to have a fine art rendering of someone you love hanging on your wall at home, instead of in an urn? As a dog lover who finds the greatest friendship and purest love in his German shepherd, this idea evolved specifically into pet portraits. I started using pet cremains to make paintings using their owners’ favorite pictures of them- mostly cats and dogs of course, but I’ve also painted horses and birds. People love the idea of remembering their fur babies through a hand made custom oil painting, whether it contains ashes or not. Instead of an urn reminding of their death, a vibrant, colorful oil painting reminds us of the life they fully lived in love. It brings joy and beauty, helping heal the sorrow of loss.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
From humid tropics to sun-scorched desert, I am a Costa Rican native now residing in Arizona. I’ll never forget when my dad gave me my first set of oil paints when I was 10 years old. When I ran out of canvas and couldn’t afford to buy more, I painted murals over all the walls in my house. A self-taught oil painter, it wasn’t until my mid-twenties when I became a US citizen that I had an opportunity to take my first art class at the local community college. However, to make ends meet, I became a truck driver, and after 7 years over the road, my art called me back. I returned to college to pursue my passion in painting, learning new techniques in a variety of art and drawing classes. I was happy to have my art displayed in several galleries such as the Phoenix Art Museum, Vision Gallery in Chandler, Tempe Center for the Arts, Herberger Art Gallery, Chandler Center for the Arts, and even on a public mural and post office!
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted my momentum, with several art installations canceled. Like a tree, I feel I grew another branch into a distinct new art form. In the shutdown of 2020, I swapped cloth canvas for living canvas, my paintbrush for a tattoo machine. I furthered my skills in drawing, Procreate, and got to interact with and develop relationships with clients. I was honored to provide entirely custom and personalized permanent artworks for people to cherish and carry around with them for life. Post-pandemic, I am a tattoo artist as well as a painter, specializing in black and gray, colorful landscapes, and custom and memorial paintings of people and pets.
As a tattoo artist, I provide custom drawings and tattoos at Collective Art in Mesa- no one tattoo I design is the same. I tattoo by appointment, and some of the feedback I’ve received is that I have a gentle hand and make first-time tattooers feel at ease. I also continue my oil painting and pet portrait business. I commission paintings of people, landscapes, and pets- with or without ashes. My pet portrait business is called Pura Vida Art, a Costa Rican saying that literally translates to “Pure Life.” Its meaning goes deeper still, drawing on the belief that life is awe- inspiring yet fleeting; it must be lived in joy, in authenticity, and to our utmost best – that’s what I deliver in each custom painting. Through my art, I want people to see not only that life is precious and should be cherished, but that there is also hope for the forgotten.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
You would never think that a mother would intentionally hurt her own child, let alone laugh at her son’s pain. There was nothing funny about being the 8-year old child of abuse and poverty in Costa Rica. Growing up in constant fear and torment, I would spend as much time outside my home as possible, and within the living, breathing rainforest surrounding my tin-roof house. Inspired by natural life, free in their environment, I began to draw my surroundings as an escape into my own world of art. When I ran out of canvas and couldn’t afford to buy more, I painted murals over all the walls in my house.
Moving oil around the canvas feels amazing, and the rainforest works that came so naturally to me have been described as peaceful and surreal, as in a dream. Yet I also paint people, various landscapes, animals, and objects, my work often striking emotions connected to a special place, one that speaks of adventure, or home. It is there that I focus on a subject, if the space so calls for one to inhabit it, and glaze each new layer adding light, life, and the inkling of a memory. The paintbrush, harnessing the pain of my youth, seeks not to erase it, but by overlay, works to create from it new meanings and purposes. In fact, one thing that distinguishes me as an artist is that I incorporate ashes in hand-made oil paint to create personalized memorial paintings, reminding us that a life well-lived is one spent doing what we love with who we love, and that there is power in forgiveness.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
The book, “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity,” by Julia Cameron, and its workbook, “Morning Pages Journal,” helped me find motivation to continue my artistic and business pursuits. Sometimes as artists, we struggle every day to find motivation, and this book and workbook helped me stay grounded and focused.
Another resource that provided encouragement is “It’s not over until I win,” by Les Brown. This impacted my thinking because at times, you forget to believe in yourself, yet that’s where your power lies to turn your passion and dream into your reality.
Contact Info:
- Website: Puravidaart.org
- Instagram: Diego_28
- Facebook: Diego Vallejos