I was born in New Bedford to first-generation Cape Verdean American parents. My paternal grandparents immigrated to Massachusetts from Fogo. My maternal grandmother immigrated from Brava to Nantucket. My maternal grandfather, also from Brava, stowed away in a whaling ship at the age of 13 and worked the whaling routes around the Massachusetts South Coast and the Islands.
I graduated with a BFA degree from Swain School of Design in New Bedford in 1979. I earned my MFA in 1982 from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI. I think of myself as a painter. My works tend to start as paintings on burlap and frequently incorporate mixed-media elements as well.
