My dear friends if you want to know a little about me here you go…
My full name is LIVIMAR MARISELA TATA MATA DE DIAZ, yes it's that long… When you are born in Venezuela, and I guess it is the same in all Latin American countries, having your family tree every time you say your name is important… I was born on January 13th 1970. My father was a pediatrician and my mother a school teacher that to this day, dedicates her life entirely to her family. With this said, I was spoiled rotten, a super happy little girl. Back then I loved to color and make figurines out of play-doh, I loved to pick the smallest little things off the floor and put them in my mouth or make something out of it… Who was to say I was just practicing my fine motor skills…
Growing up my passion for art continued and my mother took us (my sister and I) to several painting courses, but my real passion was in tridimensional art forms… Right after high school I decided to study Dentistry at Universidad Central de Venezuela, becoming a dentist in 1995. Just before graduating I married my high school sweetheart, the love of my life Javier Diaz…
I thought my life was set, I had a wonderful and productive life doing what I loved since this career had everything I wanted, my desire of making everybody around me as happy as they could be and the artistic part, working with small tools sculpting smiles every time they would leave my office… What else could I have asked for?
Well God’s plans sometimes are not ours, but for sure, they are much better… In 1997 my husband and I made our first masterpiece together we called her Aimar, but she was too lonely, so immediately we started working in our second masterpiece Aimee. In the middle of her creation we received the news that was going to change our lives forever… My husband was going to be transferred to Corpus Christi, Texas not assigned but transferred… 20 days after she was born we were flying to an unknown place we were going to call home… This part was tough to swallow, all my dreams were left in my country to start new ones from scratch…
New situations are never easy, my dreams of becoming a famous dentist started to fade with my tears… Depressed to the max and in charge of 2 baby girls, a newborn and a one and half year old, with no help after being a queen, was NOT EASY… LEMONS STARTED TO FALL FROM THE SKIES… Not even having a clue on how to make lemonade out of that, I started thinking of something to do… Aimar’s birthday was around the corner and planning for that I flew to Venezuela and in one month I learned to make the most beautiful piñatas from a very talented young man called Gregorio “Goyo” Ventura. Back in Corpus and with a new skill I started making piñatas for all of my friends… But still depression was there and this is not a good thing… In 2002 I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and making piñatas became hard work… Guess What? Just when I started to put the ingredients together to make lemonade MORE LEMONS FELL FROM THE SKY… Now I said to myself, why wasn’t I able to see the good things around me… Why did I just want my old life back? Why not just move forward if that was causing so much pain? Oh well, maybe it was lack of faith…
Searching for something less painful to do, I started to work at Del Mar College in the Spanish Lab, that was great, I made lots of friends but my creative part was buried. God made me come across Barry Brown’s Clay studio's flyer promoting clay classes… Immediately signed up for it and I started to shine again, like a flower in fresh water… This became a fabulous hobby, but I had no personal income and that was not good when you like to feel independent… So I started studying to become a Realtor, this would distract my pain and get me working again… And then…Yes, yes, more LEMONS… Soon after I started as a Realtor in Coldwell Banker; my Daddy the first man I loved, passed away… I didn’t need the stress of real estate… I ran to the clay studio where I felt safe… And then some of the LEMON DROPS started to make LEMONADE. I made the one and only realistic sculpture ever, a bust of my father… It was so realistic it was like seeing my dad again… People started seeing me as an artist and a Realtor making money to call my own.
A short time later, I was donating one of my pieces for an auction to obtain funds for the Art Center and my they sold for a price I could not have ever imagined someone would pay. My art started to make sense... At the same time, my sister Pilimar Tatá, also looking to ease the pain of my father’s loss, started going to jewelry classes and inspired by Laura Palazzi Von Buren, our lifetime neighbor and well known artist in Venezuela. They introduced and taught me what they knew, inspiring me to make jewelry out of my clay art and wire. Short time later I was asked to become part of the artists of the Art Store in the art Museum of Corpus Christi, were I sold my clay pieces and jewelry! So Livi T Diaz was born, yes from the big long name to just Livi T Diaz... With just enough LEMONADE for a cup and more LEMONS were on the way… I decided to be happy with God’s decision and promised myself I would bloom wherever God would place me...
Another 4 more moves on the way until now…First to Katy, TX then to super cold Haymarket, VA and then to the other extreme of the world to Yanbu, Saudi Arabia and now back to Katy, TX… In all these places I was able to make my jewelry and expose them to the world, having the most beautiful complements for them, and the most rewarding thing, is to see when people are wearing the piece I made that they have identified with…
It is important to know that all of my pieces are in some way or another exposed to stress as some of them are fired, banged, pulled, twined, decorated with natural stones or with the simplicity of just the metal. They all make an imperfect but amazing and unique piece of art that can be worn with the confidence that only you will carry this creation that reflects the philosophy of making LEMONADE out of the LEMONS we are given.
After all I am determined to make LEMONADE with all the LEMONS because they are gifts from God and we just don’t want to see them... I CANT WAIT FOR ALL THE GOOD THAT IS COMING OUR WAY !!
