You can contact Juan via email: patinoart@gmail.com
Originally from Colombia, he was raised in Miami and began his creative journey as a young child.
Although he always drew and made art through childhood, he never took art seriously as a career until highschool.
"I tried to be an artist when I entered middle school, auditioning for the magnet program at South Miami Middle School. The teachers there thought I
drew too many dinosaurs and aliens and not enough still life so I didn't get accepted. It was a dissappointment, one that I remember
as a reason for never wanting to be known as a fine artist."
Mike Richardson, commercial art teacher at South Miami Senior High saw something in Juan and allowed him
to join the magnet program his freshman year, fall 1996.
"If it wasn't for Mr. Richardson giving me a chance, I'd probably be a completely different person."
After highschool, Juan attended New World School of the Arts College and received his Associate in Arts in Art an Art Education.
Afterwards, he finished his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland in May 2005.
"I'm glad I stayed in Miami for a couple of years before venturing off into the great white north. I also thank the
great white north for showing me why I needed to return to Miami."
He currently lives in Miami, working on his artwork and living life. He is actively involved with his family,
what art and expression have to teach him, and Capoeira.
"I don't really know what art is. If any of us really knew, then we wouldn't spend our lives making art.
I see the world around me through my heart and my soul puts it on to paper."
- Juan Patiño, December 2006