I was born and raised in Northern New Jersey and am of Puerto Rican decent.

 

I am currently a working mother of two daughters, Leila Celeste and Jaelyn Alexis.  I am married to a loving and supportive man, Daniel.

 

I have been interested in artwork since I was a very young child.  My love of children has always been my inspiration.  When I was a child and into my young adult years, I dreamed of becoming a feature length film animator for a very large, well-known animation studio.  As the years went by, my interest turned in the direction of children's books.

 

I am currently working on my own children's book, but at the moment I am also willing to freelance for other authors/publishers.

 

I would like to thank my husband Daniel, and my dearest family and friends for their love and support.  I would also like to thank Fresh Publishing for helping me to kick-start this career.  But, most of all, I have to thank our God Jehovah for blessing me with a talent that not only brings me joy, but one in which I could use to bring joy and inspiration to the little ones on this earth.

 

Why I use my maiden name "Figueroa" when publishing illustrations

I use my maiden name as an extension to my legal married name because I want to be an inspiration to other young Hispanic girls out there.  When I was a child, there weren't many female Hispanic artists that I looked up to.  By exposing my maiden name, I am also giving hope to those of us labeled a "minority" in this society and to those of us who allow that, and many other labels, to hold us back from reaching for our dreams.  Forget "what" you are, concentrate on "who" and "how" you are.