We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hugo Orezzoli. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hugo below.

Hugo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I feel blessed, I feel lucky, and yes, I am very happy. Of course, I do wonder once in a while what it would’ve been like to have a regular job, to do something monotonous five days a week, week after week. I just can’t see myself doing anything like that.

Creativity is not something you can switch on and off. It never stops; you just can’t tell your brain to stop thinking. My mind is always working, always multitasking, always trying to solve different things at the same time—small projects, huge projects, and everything in between.

I spend my time either painting large format paintings, planning the next painting, or being a Creative Director in a Miami ad agency, so you know how busy my mind is; it’s buzzing 24/7. Even when I’m mowing my lawn, I’m thinking about a personal project or how to solve a challenge at work. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m from Lima, Perú — from a very centric district: Jesús María. Since I was a child, I’ve had this need to draw and paint, to use tempera, watercolor, charcoal — to experiment with different mediums. This continued through my teenage years. At school, I was caught drawing many times instead of paying attention in class.

A few years after graduating from high school, without a clue as to what to do, I thought advertising could be a field worth exploring. I was sure I could come up with ideas for print ads and TV commercials. I thought I could even be good at it.

I came to the United States in 1983 and started college majoring in Graphic Design, and before I graduated, I started working in a very small advertising agency, in their creative department, and I just loved it. It’s been more than 30 years since I got that first ad agency job, and I’m still loving it.

After so many years of working in the ad biz though, something finally re-emerged — painting. I guess I had gotten distracted by the ad industry and had put my brushes to sleep. But not too long ago, I started to feel that same need to draw and paint again, just like when I was a child. So, I started experimenting with oil, something I hadn’t tried before, and it didn’t take long for me to feel confident with it. I started with small canvases, but now I‘m painting big formats — around 5ft x 6ft canvases. Today, those large canvases are starting to feel small.

Now, painting and sharing have become my mission. I guess unconsciously I’ve been accumulating so many stories of my memories and my culture, stories I witnessed and clearly remember. I have this persistent urge to share them with the entire world. I like to think I’m also a storyteller, but instead of writing these stories with a pen, I use a brush, colors, and a big canvas.

Not too long ago, I was quoted as saying, “My paintings live in the corner between my memories and my imagination.” I see that sentence as spot-on; my paintings are a combination of my memories and the imagination I have to use to create all these characters, all these people I’ve never seen before.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I strongly believe that if the emotion or the reaction people experience when they see my work matches my mind’s intention, that’s the biggest reward there could be.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Painting is my mission. I love my culture and I have so many stories to share about it. I want people to relate to the stories I’m telling, and for my work to evoke pleasant memories. I want to provoke curiosity in those who are seeing my work for the first time; hopefully they’ll want to know more about it.

I also paint for myself though. I don’t think I could live peacefully with all these stories, memories, and experiences without sharing them. I have to paint them to let them all out.

Contact Info:

• Website: hugocolor.com
• Instagram: @real.hugorezzoli
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hugo.orezzoli
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmYG5ux0Rkg&t=56s