Margarita Rivera Cantu

Margarita Rivera Cantu

Painter - Teaching Artist/Instructor - Visual Arts - Papel Picado Designer

marika_art@hotmail.com

   1710 Richland Hills Dr, San Antonio, TX, 78251

I, Margarita Rivera CantĂș, (known artistically as Marika) retired as a Spanish Language and All-level Art Educator from the Texas public school system. Under the direction of my mentor, Sr. Mary Peter Tremonte, a Dominican Sister, sculptor, and liturgical designer, I enrolled in Dominican College, Houston, TX. and attended the Dominican Institute of the Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. While there, I studied academic Realistic Drawing under the tutelage of Signorina Nerina Simi, considered by Pietro Annigoni, "the greatest teacher of the century". My extensive artistic experience encompasses a vast array of media. I have concentrated in Portraits in Oils, Acrylics, Prismacolor and Charcoal Drawing. Throughout my life, I have done Calligraphy for diplomas, documents, and wedding invitations. I have created original Papel Picado Banners for weddings since 1999 to the present. Since a very little person and throughout my life, I have been guided to share this God-given gift, bringing joy to others, capturing their essence, and celebrating momentous moments of their lives. I acknowledge my success has come from the privilege of studying under some of the most prestigious figures within the fine arts community, here and abroad, and a yearning to never stop learning.