Amaroq de Quebrazas, San Francisco-based artist. Photo by Mary Gow.
She’s painted, drawn, and communicated via written stories since she was a child.
Amaroq de Quebrazas was born and raised in a working class Mexican household on the north side of the Bernal Heights, bordering the Mission district, in San Francisco. She’s lived the majority of her life in the city.
“I think and breathe in visual symbols – it’s my personal language. As symbols keep repeating, I figure out what personal growth message they have in store for me,” she said.
She creates graphic novels, screenplays, and paintings, using psychology and storytelling to get to the root causes of human behavior.
De Quebrazas hasn’t let rheumatoid arthritis deter her pursuits. Barney, her Samoyan/Shepherd service dog, helps her in and out of chairs, up and down stairs, and generally commands space for maneuvering in public spaces.
“I write and paint almost daily. My art is ‘Latino Magic Realism’ style. My paintings tend to draw on themes from my subconscious. I also convert my old screenplays into graphic novels.”
She paints with her fingers while using a brush. She experiments with mixing media -charcoal and Conti crayon, watercolor and colored pencil sticks, acrylic and oil pastel on upholstery fabric making a kind of tapestry and gluing or sewing on bits of beads and scraps from old earrings.
A peek inside Amaroq’s magical journal. Photo by Mary Gow.
Poster Child for City College of San Francisco
“I am in the Disabled Student Program at City College of San Francisco and it has saved my life,” said de Quebrazas.
“Thanks to CCSF I attend and learn at my own pace in classes that are non-credit. For the first time in my life I can get an education. I have a history of doing poorly in school and the vast majority of credit classes are way too fast for me because of my severe dyslexia. In the Program teachers have helped me grow my own graphic novel business where I do all the art, writing and computer work. City College is the only place where I found a chance for a new life.”
She’s rewriting her graphic novel “The She Beast,” a fiction story based on real events. It is a dramatic tale about a tough, audacious and bold teen who’s half child, half woman, with a brazen personality and survival skills.
You can see more of de Quebrazas’ magical work at Graphic Novels by Amaroq at https://sites.google.com/site/graphicnovelsbyamaroq/