When I was little, when a “coihue” (a tall tree that grows in the mountains) creaked  in the wind, my mother would say it was a fairy opening her window… we didn’t need to push our imaginations much, those mountains, forests and lakes, are truly enchanted and enchanting. It was in this amazing place, that I used to spend hours contemplating the illustrations in Fairy Tales books, and think, “When I grow up, I want to illustrate children’s books”.

In high school I began to dream about becoming a long distance runner, too. Cross country was my favorite sport. But only when I turned 30 years old, I took my dream seriously and I began to train. In October 1999, although I wasn’t well trained yet, I ran my first adventure race on the mountains. As I was finishing that race I kept promising myself would never, ever run a race of that kind again… It turned out to be the beginning of my career as a long distance runner.

I love to feel my body moving in harmony while I run. Running I feel happy with life and thankful for all the good things that surround me. While I am illustrating I get into whichever world I am creating, immersed in it, trying to figure out what can make it more beautiful, magical and or special. Whether I am running or illustrating, when I manage to get rid of my fears or overcome them, when I let myself go and be free, when I live the moment and don’t worry about the future, that’s when I get the best results.

Now I am working on my own children’s stories, picture books. It is an exciting new challenge for me.

Other things I enjoy are, having a coffee with a friend or by myself with a good book. Not worrying about how much ice cream I eat after having trained really hard. Romantic, epic, real life inspiring or adventure movies. Contemplating nature, a beautiful sunset, a beautiful tree, an overwhelming mountain landscape, an amazing flower, artwork. Pushing my limits. Making someone smile.