Expressions by Stephanie

Works by Stephanie Aguilar

I am an artist from San Antonio, Texas that creates handmade art to reflect our varied life experiences. My background as a first responder gives me unique perspectives on life and people. I am best known for my floral paintings that represent different physical and mental health conditions...I use a variety of media by hand, including oil, acrylic, and watercolor paint, ebony and charcoal pencil, oil pastel, scratchboard, alcohol ink and photography...My art reflects a variety of themes, but I primarily paint flowers and surreal portraits. I create flowers to represent different physical and mental health conditions, to not only spread awareness, but to provide encouragement to others and validate their experiences. Portrait art with asymmetrical facial designs reflect humanity's complexity and sometimes seemingly opposing thoughts, feelings and behaviors. ..Working in healthcare, I am in a unique position to witness humanity in a true and raw form. Sometimes it's seeing the effects of various diseases or injuries on someone's body and mind. Other times its witnessing family dynamics and how they unknowingly affect each other. I love how healthcare, at least in emergency medicine, I'm able to offer patients acceptance of who they are or what they are going through, and remind them that they don't need to feel ashamed. These experiences influence my floral and portrait art. ..All the years of ups and downs I've felt and seen in others started when I decided to volunteer at my neighborhood fire department. I had zero knowledge or experience. The other volunteers taught me everything, and helped me complete my packet of sign offs to become a firefighter. A few years later, they found a grant to pay for me to go to EMT school. I volunteered at the department for about four years, and finally left once I became a mom...Other art themes include abstract art, animal art, and photography. Alcohol ink paintings feel like seasons of life; changing times, places, moments. The impermanence of life is often a gift. Its also relaxing; you can look at the swirls of shapes and colors and imagine anything or think of nothing at all. In our modern world, life often feels so crammed and moves so fast, its hard to turn our brains off and just notice the passing of time and our ever changing lives and world. When I know I want to make something, but I don't want to think so hard, I create an alcohol ink painting. I love how I have very little control on how the painting turns out, I just turn my brain off and go with the flow. ..I paint animals simply because they are cool, and make the world better. My favorite way to paint animals is with mixed media, using a combination of watercolor paint, acrylic paint, and marker. ..Photographs are primarily captured in various areas of San Antonio, because I love to explore. Many photographs were taken of the missions in San Antonio, at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. They are free to explore, and are not far from each other. The Alamo tends to grab people's attention, but the location of the Alamo in downtown San Antonio makes it inconvenient to visit. The other missions are easy to access, and have connecting trails suitable for walking or biking. My personal favorite is Mission San Jose, because I think it is the most beautiful. ..I continue to work in healthcare, but enjoy creating and selling my handmade art as a hobby. On Geo Galleries, I sell 8x10" prints. Ko-fi is where I sell originals and write the stories that go with my art...You can find my work on social media on Facebook and Instagram. I honestly try not to be on social media too much, because I tend to start doom scrolling like the rest of us, but I do post several times a week. I do not take inquiries via social media messaging, but if you have questions please reach out via email. ..Lastly, I want to thank the people in the small business community that helped me grow. When I was still learning how to grow my business, Sweet Treats by Tatyana worked a few collaborations with me. Chico's Coffee Shack let me leave my work in their coffee shop to sell; the couple that owned the shop were incredibly sweet. Erica from 4Goodness Project Inc works incredibly hard to help creative small businesses in San Antonio grow. I've participated in a few of her markets, and yearly she does a large Asian themed block party market. Jacqueline from Brushworks Studio and Gallery allowed me to hang my work for sale in her art gallery...My life has been a wild ride sometimes with ups and downs, but I thank God for my blessings.