BIO

BIO:

My name is Ernie Joya and I was born in a town called Guanabacoa, in Cuba. My family and I are exiles from 1966 and have lived here in Miami since then. I am the middle of 3 boys, the yougest was born in Mt. Sinai hospital in Miami Beach and he is now an attorney and my eldest brother running his own roofing and lumber company. They each have two sons, all in elementary and middle school and are all doing very well. My parents are retired and living in Miami, near me as well. I went to school here except for a brief period when I attended school in Chicago and for 5 months, in a town called Aix-en-Provence, France. I am fluent in Spanish as well as English ofcourse, and am very comfortable speaking in French if spoken to me with kindness and at a tempo I can keep up with. I graduated from High School and took off to a study-abroad program and came back deciding I wanted to be an artist. I have always loved Art, World Music, reading and traveling. I enrolled in the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale where I got my degree in Graphic Design, after completing my first 2 years of Miami Dade and getting my AA. Fast forward 20+ years and you will find me back in Miami dade getting my Bachelor's degree in Education, for the exceptional student. I had always wanted to teach elementary school and Art in particular, but with budget cuts being what they are, Art is out of the question.....for now. In the last 20 years, I had been employed by Macy's Inc in Downtown Miami and managed to consistantly like my job and travel and grow and learn a lot. Unfortunately all good things come to an end and we got layed off as the company took their central offices up north. I feel that Advertising may be a part of my past and not my future but I am still trying to land a job in Marketing while I put myself thru school. In the meantime I managed to open a small business in Dog sitting and plan on starting to Substitute teach in the Fall. I am also a Fine Artist and enjoying working in Oil and acrylic. I plan on having an exposition soon in the Wynwood area