About Eneida Rosa....
I'm not Spanish, although many people think I am. I'm Brazilian. My husband and daughter are Spanish, and I have lived here in Madrid for many years. I love Spain like my own home now. I love the Spanish people, all of whom made me very welcome here in my adopted city, which is beautiful and full of culture. Spain is a pleasant place to sculpt, even in the summer. The weather is a little dry…; we have changes in weather all year. My favorite season is winter

I was born into a family of artists, I worked in the arts all my life. My mother was a porcelain painter, and I followed in her steps. I'm lucky my parents were artistic…My mother more than my father. He's more practical. My mother, father, and grandmother all paint, my brother draws, and my Grandfather was a sculptor in brass. All of my family has special gifts for art, I was also fortunate to have been educated in private schools that recognized and fostered my artistic talents.

After being trained in painting by my mother in impressionism, Ana Strieder and Isa Barceló’s in human form and portraits, and traditional painting by Jose Alegre Caro, I gave my first International Porcelain Seminar when I was 17 years old. I continued to work in that area for many years—for one reason because I had married an exceptionally talented porcelain painter.  My love for painting continues. I paint with oils on canvas, I use watercolors and pastels, China paints and cold porcelain—anything you can give some color.

I also love to teach children, they love what I do, and they want so much to learn that I arranged classes for children to learn how to sculpt. But I needed to stop because my daughter was so jealous that I couldn't work when she was there! I hope to resume classes for children when my daughter is old enough to enjoy joining with me. I love seeing how creative children can be. We start the same thing, but in the end they all turn out very differently.

I also taught nearly everyone in her husband's family. My hubby and his sister were my students. And I taught my mother-in-law too. She is an artist, and she paints awesome portraits in oils. She has many talents, and she learned a bit from me too. I try to teach everyone!

My daughter is one of my models and my inspiration. I use my daughter as a reference all the time, she is lovely and very spontaneous, and that's what makes her poses so much fun. I try to reproduce the natural movements of a child...for example, when she dresses herself like a fairy or a princess I observe and take loads of photos references, she is growing so fast ,and she poses to me all the time . 

 She doesn't know it yet, but she helps me a lot. I hope that one day My daughter will want to sculpt with me ( I mean something more than “The Powerpuff Girls”, what we do now :) ) , much as I learned porcelain painting from My mother.

Family is very important to me. The love of my husband is something I'm very thankful for. He always supports me like an artist, has never doubted my possibilities, and he helps me a lot. Whenever I need a little extra time for a fairy or to make my tuts, he is there helping me with things in the home. My family live in a happy home full of love. I hope it will be this way all my life.

So how did I get from porcelain painting to polymer clay? One day my young daughter was playing with modeling clay, and I joined in. I quickly sculpted a character from the Spielberg movie Monsters Inc. My daughter recognized it immediately. So did my brother. When he received a photo of my creation, he sent me some links to polymer clay websites and told me to try. "I know you can do this," he said. "Just buy some clay and try."

I was not sure I could make the medium my own. I remember that the first site I looked at was Camille Allen's. I was in awe of her work! I thought to myself, 'I'll never be able to do this!'" now I sell my dolls on eBay, under the name of "*FairiesandDreams."

My studio in my home used to be my porcelain studio, where I worked and taught painting. But when I became pregnant with my daughter I could no longer work with the porcelain because the process involves toxic substances. Little by little my porcelain studio became a polymer clay studio. Now I have all of my porcelain stuff in the closet.

 I try to make diversity my goal. I try something new with every sculpture. In the future I hope to make some creatures different from my usual work.

My advice for newcomers who want to develop their skills: The mistake that a newbie always makes is not to use a reference model. I admit that I made the same mistake when I started. When I learned the value of references, my abilities began to develop quickly. The best way to learn is to practice. And accept and learn from critiques. Try new things. Get anatomy books that are made for you to learn to draw and paint the human body.

One more piece of advice: Get good clay. The rest is free—just creativity and imagination. But moonies and other practical issues can destroy our illusions.

Although I was already a well-trained artist when I began working with polymer clay, ODA has been a big part of my creative development with that medium. I have learned so much from ODA—everything! I’m also ADSG and CDHM Member and there are many very helpful members and advices. I've had such support. That is important for the developing artist. Here we can find so many tips, tutorials, and people to help that anyone who wants to learn to sculpt can do it here. I’m grateful for the support and inspiration I’ve received.

You girls who have mentors are very lucky I wish someone had wanted me for a pupil and would have taken me under their wing and taught me as my mother did when I learned porcelain. But many talented artistes have inspired me. I have a long list of artists who had inspired and helped me. I prefer don’t say names I’m afraid I'd forget to mention some very important people  I just want to say thank you for all the artists who share their knowledge.

I want to continue to learn portrait sculpting and make lifelike sculptures I know I have to perfect many things to do this but I want to try. I just can say I live my dream right now. I started out selling my dolls for twenty dollars each. I never imagined I would find myself here. I am living in Neverland, and I love it!

I’m convinced Polymer Clay is my medium.

Eneida

Thanks for Angel Cain for the help with the text).