Arline Ostolaza was born in Puerto Rico and, at the age of two, her family moved to Brooklyn, New York. Her penchant for drawing surfaced when, as a young child, she enjoyed doing portraits of family members and guests.

After high school, she worked on Wall Street and at Rockefeller Plaza at banking, engineering and insurance firms. Thereafter, she became a homemaker, raised a family, became a real estate broker and, ultimately, a real estate appraiser. Meanwhile, Ms. Ostolaza took part-time college courses. Finally, in 1983, at an untraditional age, she received a Bachelor of Fi...

Arline Ostolaza was born in Puerto Rico and, at the age of two, her family moved to Brooklyn, New York. Her penchant for drawing surfaced when, as a young child, she enjoyed doing portraits of family members and guests.

After high school, she worked on Wall Street and at Rockefeller Plaza at banking, engineering and insurance firms. Thereafter, she became a homemaker, raised a family, became a real estate broker and, ultimately, a real estate appraiser. Meanwhile, Ms. Ostolaza took part-time college courses. Finally, in 1983, at an untraditional age, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase.

Her art has been largely influenced by SUNY professors, steeped in the constructivist theories of the Walter Gropius’ Bauhaus in Germany, and the Josef Albers’ Black Mountain College in the USA. Her artistic sensibilities were further enhanced by courses and workshops taken with noted Asian artists Nanae Momiyama, Henry Wo, and Shozo Sato. Today, she blends these influences with her Puerto Rican origins to create vibrant works that seek to touch the human soul and intellect.

Retired from a demanding real estate career, Ms. Ostolaza is thrilled to be working as a full-time artist. Most of her time is spent working in pen and ink, pencil, graphite, charcoal, oil, acrylic and watercolor. However, she also creates mixed-media works and has produced hand-built vases and outdoor sculptures.

Utilizing skills that she developed during her business career, Ms. Ostolaza has just launched ArlineArts™ through which she will market her work to the public.