Olga Ayala

Olga Ayala, artist, painter, ceramist & "Polymer Clay" sculptor... DC Bebop
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Art - Olga Ayala

Olga is an artist, painter, ceramist and a "Polymer Clay" sculptor.. She sells and shows her work in venues all over the world.

Olga grew up in "El Barrio" in New York City. Her artistic awakening came about one day, while still a child, when she saw her mother draw a "life-like depiction" of Mickey Mouse. From this experience, the door to her artistic desires was opened. Later on she also discovered her mother had wanted to be an artist but chose to "be a mom" and raise her children instead.

From the moment Olga learned of her mother's talent, she wanted to become an artist and she asked her mother to teach her. From that time on, her mother (her muse) did all that she could to encourage and support Olga's pursuit of her artistic goals. In the scheme of life, Olga saw becoming an artist as a way to carry on her mother's artistic dream. Over time, her mother eventually returned to the arts to paint and create ceramic pieces. It was her mother's work with ceramics that drew Olga's attention and she began to explore this art form as well. Once again, Olga's mother opened another creative door. Olga experimented, but did not feel satisfied by the results from ceramics. This interest in ceramics did however lead her to explore working with polymer clay.

Olga found that she liked working with polymer clay more than the ceramics for a number of reasons. While polymer clay is moldable like traditional clay, she found that it did not need the high temperatures, necessary for regular clay, to fire it. She discovered that polymer clay could be "cooked" to hardness in a regular oven, the process is quicker and the results more consistent.

Olga found her artistic calling through her polymer clay creations. With her hands she molds life into objects and figures depicting everyday life, dance and music. Many of her creations reflect her Puerto Rican culture and the love and respect she feels towards it.
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Olga: My maternal grandfather, Gregorio Marzan once asked me as a young girl what I wanted to be when I grew up.
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Olga: I wanted my father to teach me to play timbales when I was little but he didn't believe playing drums was appropriate for girls.
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Olga: Although my father doesn't play in public anymore, memories of seeing him perform, his facial expressions, the way he would grunt to keep the beat, are still fresh in my mind.
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Olga: Whoa!