MARIA TUMA: Artist

AWARDS - PREMIOS:

Governor Haydon Burns Scholarship; Florida - 1967. Beca de pintura.

National Scholastics; gold key in oil painting; National Competition; 1966.
Medalla de Oro en una pintura en Oleo, competencia Nacional Escolástica.

Silver Knight Award; Miami Herald; 1966.
Premio otorgado por el periódico Miami Herald

WQBA Honorable Mention on the opening of my art show at the Bacardi
Art Gallery; 1975. Mención de Honor en el programa de Radio WQBA por la Exposición de Arte en el edificio Bacardi en Miami.

NIKON Award of Excellence in Nature Photography; NY. City; NY. 1976.
Premio de Excelencia en Fotografía por la NIKON

Certificate of Appreciation for the contribution to the community from Dade County Mayor Steve Clark in 1997.
Certificado del Alcalde de Miami Sr. Clark, por contribuir con la comunidad.

Certficate of Appreciation from Julio Martinez; Mayor of Hialeah; Fla.
for the Advisory Board Care for the Soldiers in the Gulf War, 1991.
Certificado del Alcalde de Hialeah, por ayudar al envio de regalos de Navidad a los soldados en 1991.

Kiwanis Club of Hialeah, for donating her artistic talent to the community 1992

Maria and her students received many Art Awards and commendations throughout the years in Dade County Public Schools. Los alumnos de Maria
han recibido muchos premios en ARTE debido a su enseñanza.

Keep Alachua County Beautiful, plaque Silver Award for Outstanding Achievement by Media and Public Relations. 2004. Poster designs donated.
Mantener Bello el Condado de Alachua, placa de plata por donar diseños de afiches promoviendo el arte en esa ciudad. 2004.

Merit Award for "PARROT", an Oil Painting at Rossetti Art Gallery,
Pompano Beach Florida August 2010. Premio de Merito en su óleo titulado "Cotorra" en la Galeria de Arte Rossetti en Pompano, Florida 2010
________________________________________________________

Artist Statement

At the age of 9 in Havana, Cuba, María won a prize for a drawing she made of the cartoon "Poky the Pig", she was interviewed by Gaspar Pumarejo on TV and this gave María some more enthusiasm to focous in Art. When she arrived in Miami, Florida and continued her education in Junior High, her teachers saw her talent, received awards and went to Barry University and graduated as an Art Teacher. She taught elementary, middle and highschool students as well as adults.

In 2011 María is spending more time painting in oils and was accepted by ASTA (American Society of Traditional Artists) early on 2011. She has been requested to paint more still-lives in oils for museum exhibitions...
________________________________________________________________

Some people have told me to make series of a certain subject matter because galleries like to identify an artist with a body of work. I like too many things to limit myself to seascapes, landscapes, animals: dogs, horses, chickens in a farm, sheeps, some patriotic themes, people (my favorite subject), children, religious and Biblical illustrations or representations, portraits, fruits, vegetables or flowers on a still-life, ballet and flamenco dancers, in a realistic-impressionistic genre. I have also done expressionistic representations of peole as shown in my acrylics, which many people have told me that they like those a lot.
I' m 59 years of age, and I worry about how much life time I have left to be able to paint all that I want, sort of listed above... and more...However little by little I will continue to do and paint what I can under the present circumstances, with rehumatoid arthritis, taking care of home and my 97 years old mother. It is not easy, with little finantial income and how expensive life is today and the high cost of art supplies, frames, advertising, etc.

People ask me what do you paint? My answer is: many things and almost any thing. Hoping to continue overcoming obstacles of many sorts, to be able to complete many paintings already started and make some new ones and be able to see them sold in my lifetime. It would be absolutely boring to me to do the same thing over and over again -because it sells- and that is what the galleries want or how the "art" market is established at the present time. It is boring to me to paint, (for instance), all FAT PEOPLE over and over again...or just seascapes. I'm trying to achieve a classical look, although I'm a bit hyper and it clashes with classical realism. I'm trying to control my self in order to achieve the degree of realism I desire. The fast loose brush strokes comes natural to me; it is the fine control that I need to work on....and also I want to do some of those loose abstract-expressionistic and some impressionistic as well. It is a race against time...but I enjoy running it or walking it.

Miami, Fl. November 28, 2007