Presenting Mayte Almeida: Tiki Art

Please join The Blue Paper in welcoming inspirational new Key West artist Mayte Almeida. Mayte is a sculptor, painter, and photographer born in Havana Cuba some 37 years ago where her passion for art began at a very early age.  Already a blossoming pianist for four years, Mayte left Havana with her mother at the age of seven heading to Venezuela in search of a better life.

Her mother, a nurse, became the owner of a nursing home in Caracas, were Mayte spent most of her childhood surrounded by animals (cats, dogs, turtles, parrots and even a monkey) and drawing and painting on the walls of the nursing home.

At the age of 19, Mayte returned to her native city of Havana to pursue her passion for art as a student in the National Art School of San Alejandro.  Life as a young artist in Havana wasn’t quite how Mayte thought it would be and she was forced to leave her motherland again.

She found her new home in Florida where she continued developing her art and discovered a talent for a career quite uncommon for a woman.

For over ten years Mayte worked in the aviation field as an airplane mechanic. Mayte was featured in Woman in Aviation Magazine, Miami Herald, and many other publications.

But Mayte left her career in aviation to continue to do what she loves best:  her wild passion for sculpting using the Hawaiian technique called “Tiki Art”.   No one taught Mayte how to create “Tiki Art”,  she just decided one day to begin carving and grabbed a chainsaw.

Carving is her new passion. Using the Hawaiian technique Mayte carves wild, original pieces that grow out of the marriage between crude lumber and an untamable imagination.

Mayte is also a painter and  freelance photographer.  Look for her images of the beautiful Florida Keys in local galleries and news publications.

For inquiries or to see more of her work visit Mayte Almeida’s FACEBOOK page.  Don’t forget to “LIKE” her!