The Elegant Artist

Jose Figueroa

Artist | Photographer

Jose Figueroa, 34, a visual artist from Puerto Rico living in Orlando, FL with talent in many arts including drawings, photography, photoshop, painting and more.

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The Past

I don't remember much from my childhood, I have lost many old memories due to depression, but from what I remember I grew up going to church a lot with my grandpa and going shopping with my aunts every week. I was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico and lived with my mother and my sister until the age of 17 when they moved to Miami, FL.

Education

Even though I have one year of college for Networks and Servers Administration in Puerto Rico I never did anything with that career so I don't count it.

All other skills and talents are either natural or self taught, spending thousands of hours learning online about different arts and different topics.

Arts

I have been an artist all my life, from making sketches and graffiti in the school notebooks, to competing with highschoolers in art contests while still in elementary, to realistic drawings in high school to photography in Miami, FL.

When I started living in Miami I had limited transportation so looking for ways to make money from home I learned Photoshop and other Adobe products, making gigs of anything from photo restoration, retouch, color grading, to graphic design; logos, banners, ect.

During 2020, not being able to travel because Covid I learned how to paint with acrylics in canvas, also learned to model in 3D using Blender.

Work

I always had a good reputation because of the arts and that helped me in getting good and interesting jobs, so far I love all the jobs I had.

My first official job was as a photographer in a high-end furniture company in Miami, then graphic designer in the same company, allowing me to visit many restaurants, venues and hotels in South Florida.

Then I moved to Orlando to work at the airport (MCO) in a very fast paced and interesting job until everything closed during Covid.

After Covid I started working in a Zoo, with alligators, as a photographer taking photos of guests with the animal encounters.
Right after the zoo I started working in a helicopter company as a photographer, taking photos of the passengers, allowing me to fly often over touristic parks in Orlando, FL.

Present Time

Still working with the helicopter company as a photographer. On my free time I'm working in the van, converting in into a camper. I also bought a small land in North Florida where I go sometimes to camp with the van.

Always working in new projects and thinking about the future. My current big Project is Elix Foundation, a non profit organization dedicated to protect natural land and ecosystems from industrialization and overdevelopment. (Elix Foundation)

Challenges

My biggest challenge always has been communication; when I moved to Florida I didn't know anybody, I didn't know the area, the culture or the language and had limited transportation. Spent almost 2 years trying to get a job, learning new things and learned English.

Learning a new lenguage, mixed with depression and anxiety led me to start talking less and less.
In present time I got out of depression/anxiety already and I'm talking more.

Second biggest challenge has been money but in USA it is normal so I really don't stress about it, just wait until the time comes.

The Future

I think a lot about the future and have many plans and backup plans for when the time comes I'd be ready to work in any of the projects I have in place.

The biggest project I have at the moment and hopefully It works out is a non-profit organization dedicated to conservation of nature in Florida, you can learn more about it here: Elix Foundation