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This can certainly be one of our biggest questions in life. I am the son of teachers Louis and Janice Andrade and the youngest of three siblings. Most of my life has been lived in a creative way, as a photographer when I was very young and as a musician beginning in the 4th grade. I pursued these two passions for music and photography well into my early college years. And more recently have begun to play music again focusing on ethnic woodwinds and Japanese Shakuhachi Flute. After High School, I attended culinary school at Los Angeles Trade Tech then ranked 5th best in the nation for culinary arts and proceeded to work for restaurateurs Sal Casola and Chipper Pastron in opening a large seafood house in Marine Del Rey CA and beyond that cooked in the city of Los Angeles at various restaurants and country clubs. I learned valuable aspects of the food industry, mostly about food quality and integrity-of-process and ultimately, that culinary arts is a lot of fun and hard work. I met only wonderfulpeople in the industry and have a fondness in my heart for quality food. Eventually, I returned to school to obtain a University Education and studied humanities, philosophy, art and psychology and graduated with a degree in fine arts. My primary focus in the studio is in creating bronze and stone sculpture and also printmaking and some painting. I feel fortunate to have taught stone carving from 1999-2003 at Cuesta Community College to both adults and young students in the summer time for the successfulCollege for Kids Program. Recently I have returned to Los Osos to live. From 2003-2008 I created my dream studio and teaching facility in the town of 29 Palms along with my partner Gretchen. Eventually I discovered that my roots near the ocean needed watering for me to be healthy and spiritually sound. As much as I loved the desert, it was time for me to return to the coast. I found that once I had manifested my dream and lived it, that it was time to move on to discover new things about myself and apply my joy in educating and in aiding others towards discovering their own creative paths in life. My life-long friend Gretchen is now the owner and operator of The 29 Palms Creative Center & Gallery, where we still believe as we always had that: "The 29 Palms Creative Center & Gallery is founded on the premise that, the creative spirit is an integral part of our spiritual and social paths in life. A loving and non-judgmental studio environment is one of our primary goals." My current focus is on living life as Art and discovering all the beauty along the way. I thank-you for taking the time to visit my website, and I invite you to come back often. Sincerely, Don Carlos Andrade |
