Biography of Miguel Grijalva

Miguel A. Grijalva was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1980. He spent his early years in southern Arizona, living primarily in the Tucson area. As a child, Miguel was surrounded by music in his community and at home. His father played Latin Music on the acoustic guitar, and Miguel followed up with the bass guitar that he had been playing since age twelve.

Miguel started drawing when he was a small boy. When he was nine, he won his first award in Tucson Festival Society's Children's Writing Festival. His entry was a pencil drawing of a cowboy on a bucking mustang. At this time, he was already adept at drawing the human figure, and he amazed his teachers and his peers with the realism of his early portraits. In high school, Miguel began to experiment with acrylics, oils, pastels, and charcoal. He studied the works of famous artists, as well as their techniques and styles. It was during those years that he realized that art was his passion.

After high school, Miguel attended the Art Center Design College, and earned an Associate of Art degree in Advertising Art. The time he spent at the Art Center enabled him to develop his computer graphic design skills and illustration techniques utilizing a variety of traditional media. He also gained knowledge of the ability to render well through extensive practice.

While music is not his vocation, it has played a significant role in his paintings, lending passion and excitement to his art. His art romanticizes the mystery of the Mariachi, the rhythm of Flamenco, and the tranquility of the rural Mexican life. In addition to his oil paintings, Miquel has been working as a freelance artist for 8 years painting portraits, murals, and designing logos. His artwork adorns a 156-foot wall at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, a 56-foot balcony, and eighteen other residential and professional buildings.