“I practice being good to myself, respecting other human beings…all living things and nature, which is what allows me to live”

EG: What was a deciding moment or a circumstance or person that inspired you to paint?

FB: It was a moment in high school; my teachers saw that drawing came naturally to me. While in school a started focusing all my energy on drawing and when I graduated from high school I went straight to the University of plastic arts in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once I graduated I continued on to Mexico City at the University of San Carlos, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. My suggestion for art was that of a contemporary movement and so I went to Caracas, Venezuela where I found the modern movement of contemporary art that I was longing for.  That is where I started to develop, learning and really living the Latin American artists.

That is where I found myself. Later, I landed back in Puerto Rico and I have continued my search throughout the Caribbean and South and North America.

EG: So, how long have you been painting? How has painting changed the way you live…if it has and what exactly is painting to you?

FB: I have been painting professionally for almost 20 years. For me painting is a passion, a necessity, it’s something that comes out naturally, it’s a profession that I could do 24 hours a day and I wouldn’t have a problem doing overtime (laughs)! And when I go to the collectors’ house, that’s what makes me want to keep working, painting.

EG: Do you use any natural additives for your colors in your paintings?

FB: No, we are in a different era now. There are very few people today that still use pigments. Now, I work on exhibits and collections that need to dry quickly and to be sent by mail.  There are lots of pros and cons.  In Puerto Rico I am working with Puerto Rico Fine Art and everything I’ve painted for Puerto Rico, for the last three years, has been with acrylics, which isn’t contaminating like oil paints, but oil paints are a tremendous medium, but at the same time it has very high levels of lead, which is bad for the health.

Now, the people in New York want me to go back to oil paints and stop using acrylics.  So, I am painting with acrylics for Puerto Rico and oil for New York.

EG: As of right now, how many works of art are in Bonillas’ head?

FB: I have lost the notion of works of art. As for the quantity and the individual exhibits there are an average of 15 to 20 pieces that is in addition to the ones I work on for individual clients who come to my studio.  All the while I am continually working on the exhibits that I have lined up plus the orders, I should be working 24 hours a day.

EG: What inspires you?

FB: Nature, the Puerto Rican and Latin American women, different countries’ cultures…I dedicate many paintings to women, white, dark…well, its just that we have a mix of colors and humans.  And furthermore we have amazing women in the Caribbean and South America, that is my inspiration “the beautiful beings.” And with my strokes I always compliment them in my works of art.

EG: Where have you had exhibits and where are your works currently on exhibit?

FB: All over the world really.  But I’m concentrating more on Puerto Rico, New York, Miami and Santo Domingo.

EG: Do you practice any religion?

FB: Mmm…I practice being good to myself, respecting other human beings…all living things and nature, which is what allows me to live.

EG: What is the meaning behind your works of art?

FB: I try to make it so that every exhibit has a concept; and I work with an idea, which develops the concept for each exhibition.  Right now, I am in an exhibit in NYC called The Mysterious Bajura that represents our culture, traditions and our colors…all of these aspects came together and formed The Mysterious Bajura. It’s the people behind the scenes, the happenings around Bajura, all these things have been contemplated and have motivated me to create an exhibit.

EG: At this moment in time how do you feel as a painter? Successful or is there something missing? Do you long for something more? What has satisfied you?

FB: I have experienced many frustrations these past few years, but also have had great experiences with my national curators. Armando Lopez Mendez who gave me the opportunity to get in the Latin American Art by opening the doors to the museum of modern art in Santo Domingo.

I feel like I am well developed, but I still have a lot to experiment, in the next few years I will begin working with sculptures, a new stage after 20 years of painting. The time has come and after my experience in NYC with Luisa Cunning, everything she has given me I have found that it is time for me to work with Bronze.

EG: How would you categorize your artwork?

FB: My art can be categorized as a desired accidental creation, an accident that I search for and go towards without knowing what is going to happen, but is something that I am looking for. I develop a search through the client, the structure, the color and it is there that I balance the space in the dimensions of the canvas the color and everything starts to come together with the movement of the brush.

EG: Do you believe that only an artist is capable of transcending the economic and social situations to reach the essence of humanity?

FB: Yes I think so; the artist has a certain power in society. He creates a journey through his art that no one is ever able to silence.  The artist has the power to express and criticize the society or whom ever he wants.