Artist by Night

Best of both worlds

“A promise of a dream in a new world, America, shadowed by bittersweet memories as I glanced at the rear-view mirror. Two worlds embracing the valuable reminiscences of youth, driving me into a pursuit of a fresh start. My painting exudes hope and new beginnings and more evident in my abstracts, if one immerses deep into them. “

"My artwork squares with a philosophy that true art is a dance, a skillful illusion and unique expression with a message that an artist wants to convey. Conversely, a prescriptive template or guide when painting makes a beautiful end product, but devoid of a soul."

-Luz

east to west

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Luz was born in Manila, a daughter of Filipino parents with Spaniard heritage. She is also a great-granddaughter of Brigadier General Rafael Crame, the first Chief of the Philippine Constabulary who was awarded the American Medal of Valor in 1921.

Luz emigrated to the United States with both parents and two siblings. Luz's mother was a physician and so the family was granted priority with a P-31 visa classification, "Professional or highly skilled immigrant" during a time when western industrialized countries were suffering from a crisis in health human resources - an era later referred to as 'the brain-drain of doctors '. The United States was luring doctors from third world countries.

The family lived in New York and Wisconsin before finally settling in Rutland, Massachusetts.

weakness into strength

" I didn't find courage to buy a canvas and generic brand acrylic paint until 2020. I cannot think of a time when I invested in arts and crafts for myself ; my disability impedes any desire to touch art tools with a price tag greater than a box of crayons, 8-count. And arts and crafts were nowhere near my comfort zone anyway. If my memory serves me well, I failed Arts in elementary - many, many times. "

"I am left-handed, coerced to use my right hand when I was in grade school. The school ran by Franciscan Order nuns did not tolerate left-handedness, and they had a practice of binding every left hand of lefties for as long as a school cycle. When my binding was finally unfastened, I reverted back to that hand. That was when it all started. The damage done exceeded all criteria for malpractice - damages more than than just a fair-skinned left hand after a year-long binding, and a tan right. To everyone's horror [except mine], my writing required a mirror to read. And more frightful was that I started every composition on the last page of a notebook and proceeded with mirror writing back-to-front of the notebook. This was not the case prior to binding my left hand. I was only a "standard" leftie, pre-binding. "

"To date, I still mirror-write with ease. This broad-spectrum anomaly also affects the order by which I compose thoughts, often ending a composition with what should have been the preface or intro. It is life in a reversible world."

"There aren't many left-handed artists, I think only about 5% if that. Surely with my deficiency in spatial perception and 3-D modeling, I can't be a true artist. That I can control a brush and mentally manipulate images to produce a right-side-up creation from an upside-down perspective is something that I will embrace as long as I can fool myself into believing that I once possessed artistic aptitude; that tampering with my handedness altered my artistic rhythm."

education & career

From 3rd World to Western World

Although Luz had previous exposure to the English language taught at the private school she had attended in her native land, she was confounded with language nuances. But Luz's penchant for detail and accuracy became evident while managing to showcase the education system in a third world country as one that equaled or exceeded standards of learning. During her high school years in the U.S., Luz was fast tracked by two schools, skipping Grades 8 and 10 at Clarkstown High in NY and Pulaski HS in WI, respectively.

Luz pursued higher learning at Nichols College in Massachusetts. At one of the faculty's persuasions [in order for Luz to benefit from an institution that connected impassioned students to a world beyond classrooms], Luz transferred to Harvard in Cambridge, immersing in her enthusiasm in Philosophy and Bioethics.

Luz has a Masters in Healthcare Administration.

accomplishments

Contributions in Healthcare

At the age of 21, Luz was managing Clinical Pathology at UMass Medical, Worcester. Progressive opportunities presented at Boston Medical, University of Illinois, and other prestigious hospitals. She oversaw IT, Revenue Cycle, Risk and Safety, Physician Practice, Diagnostic Imaging, Diabetes, Bariatric Center and various departments within the healthcare system, collectively amplifying her expertise in business strategy and partnerships and a working knowledge in morphing an organization to adjust to the sweeping changes in healthcare; Luz eventually found herself working in the C-suite.

In 2016, Luz re-established herself in New England due to a family member's medical setback. Her dissertation in Bioethics on the topic of "Medical Futility" was also reprioritized and placed on the back burner. Luz however, continued to work remotely and eventually transitioned to healthcare consultancy.

Accolades under her belt include “Most effective writer among a class of 120 students” noted by Dr. V. Howard, Philosophy of Education, Harvard, and recognitions by academic hospitals for her rigorous, steadfast performance as a leader in healthcare. Of note is a footprint she left on the CMS software, a proprietary software utilized by Mammography nationwide in the late 90's. Luz found a solution to a dilemma that developers were unable to resolve. She spoke on the subject in Washington, DC and delivered step-by-step process on how to manipulate the algorithm to meet federal standards required by the MQSA. Luz's contributions to Cerner RIS in Kansas City as the final reviewer of dictionaries and name conventions prior to launch at U of Illinois, was likewise instrumental.

Luz appears as a guest reviewer for Becker Hospital Review’s Health IT and Revenue Cycle Conferences. She currently works as a contractor for a Boston hospital.

"Having control over my own schedule is a bonus and a blessing for it was during planned lulls in the backdrop of a pandemic that I discovered a cathartic experience in canvas painting and photography", said Luz.

Luz seeks refuge in her creation station when not reading or gardening during her spare time; but her loyalty and dedication first and foremost is to her family. She will be opening a studio in Maine in the Fall of 2022.

BY:

S. A. Winters, for Luz, a dear friend of over 30 years