Born in San Salvador, El Salvador, Karla Cecilia Rodas Cortez (Karlisima) is a world renowned, award-winning artist. She was a child prodigy since the age of four, and was mentored by José Mejía Vides, considered by many a pillar of Salvadoran art, and by Armando Solis, another great master painter from El Salvador. At the age of five, she and her siblings, accompanied by her mother, visited the house of don José Mejía Vides in the legendary region called "Los Planes de Rendero," just outside of San Salvador. Thus, she was privileged to receive the influence of don José Mejía Vides from a very early age. During these weekend visits to his studio, her mother and don José would drink tea and talk. While Don José tried to teach painting to her mother,  little Karla absorbed and soaked up this incredible and fantastic art atmosphere, and taking hold of her art dream. She used the many color pencils and watercolors that Don José had in his studio, keeping herself entertained for hours. She remembers vividly Don José painting a watercolor portrait of her mother Mayamerica Cortez in the terrace facing the trees of the picturesque "Planes de Renderos" near the Japanese park called "Saburoirao."  She was amazed how he could paint with such a fluidity and talent, and  thought it was "magic." From this point on she knew she would become a painter like her beloved Don José. These precious visits at such an early age made a great impact on her, and since this point on her life would change completely, as she experienced a tremendous inspiration that would lead her to become one of the greatest artists of our time.

Under the influence of don José Mejía Vides and Armando Solís and through her extensive travels through Europe since the age of nineteen, Karlisima's developed a fond appreciation for the masters of the Italian Renaissance, French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. She considers the influence of Monet, Renoir, Manet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh as one of the cornerstone in her early years of development. Her first two great influences from Italy since childhood are Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonaroto. Her mother wanted to become an artist herself, and therefore she was very receptive to Karlisima's artistic inclination since she was a baby. Thanks to her mother, Karlisima began formal drawing and painting classes at the age of seven with Master Armando Solís. His studio was located in his house in the neighborhood called "Colonia Santa Lucía" in Ilopango, San Salvador. Her mother and Armando Solís happened to be neighbors. It is her mother, the poet and writer, Dr. Mayamerica Cortez, who encouraged Karlisima to paint from a very early age. Thanks to her mother and to her father, Karlisima attended the Catholic School, in San Salvador, called "La Divina Providencia."  She attended this school since Kinder-Garten for thirteen years until 1983. Karlisima excelled in her classes and became the official artist of her classes, winning numerous contests in drawing, painting, poetry, poetry recital and mathematics (Algebra). She remembers loving to do the factoring cases in Algebra class and helping her classmates understand the word problems involving the cases of factoring. During these school years in San Salvador, she also participated in several drama plays, in which she not only acted, but also assisted in directing. This all-girls Catholic School provided a good education and foundation for Karlisima, and she truly enjoyed those years as she spent with her classmates at La Divina Providencia, going to retreats, playing with her friends and singing with the nuns. The nuns influenced her so much, to the point that from 1983 to 1988  Karlisima seriously considered becoming a nun. Thank God, and  thanks to her mother's pep talk, Karlisima did not follow that path, but chose to follow her art career instead.

in December 1984, Karlisima  arrived with her siblings in the USA in Alexandria, Virginia, and the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area to be reunited with her mother. At this time she kept pursuing her passion for art in George Washington Jr. High School, and later in T.C. William High School ("Remember the Titans"). In the year 1986 her family had to move and therefore Karlisima had to change High Schools, so, she ended up graduating from Annandale High School, with the award of "Art Student of the Year," in 1988.

Karlisima’s talent won her a scholarship to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she studied fine arts and languages. She majored in painting and graduated with a Bachelor degree in Fine Arts in 1992. She is now fluent in five languages: Spanish, her mother tongue, English, French, Italian and German. She is currently learning Hebrew.

 Karlisima moved back to Washington D.C. after spending some time in New York after graduating from college. This visit to New York art scene was very stimulating for the artist. During the years of 1992 to 1994 Karlisima worked with youth at risk at the Latin American Youth Center and other community centers such as Centro de Arte, teaching children and young teenagers the art of mural making.

In 1995 she worked at the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C. in the Silk Screen and Graphic Design Department. In 1996 she worked at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, as a silk screen specialist.

She exhibited her artwork in numerous collective/group shows and solo shows in St. Louis, Missouri since 1989 and Washington D.C. and New York since 1992. She has been exhibiting nationally and internationally since 1995, and started her European Tour in London and Berlin in 2005.

Karlisima's paintings are being collected around the world in Germany, Italy, England, France, Switzerland, El Salvador, Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, U.S.A., Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Perú. She has exhibited extensively in New York, San Francisco and many cities in the USA and Europe.

Karlisima’s art is based on the Mayan Magic Surrealism and is described by critics as “simply amazing and fantastic” because by her virtuoso use of color and chiaroscuro, her paintings depict elements of this world intertwined with those of the world beyond the physical realm, reminiscent of the magic world of the legends told by her ancestors, the Mayans and her grandparents and shamans.

Her bright, vivid colors express her passion for life and describe eloquently the tropical beauty of her native El Salvador and her Mayan ancestry, and the natural enchantment of "Sonsonate," a rural town and one of the 14 departments-states of El Salvador, where Karlisima spent the summers of her childhood in the fantastic and gorgeous river called "El Pescadito de Oro" (Little Gold Fish).

It is "Sonsonate", which in the Mayan, Nahuatl language means "four hundred wells of water," as well as her mother's poetry, the two things that inspired and captivated Karlisima to paint rivers and cascades and the natural beauty of the rich luscious landscapes of El Salvador and Central America. Rivers, cascades and cornfields are her recurring themes.

"Protecting and preserving Mother Nature, that is, our beautiful Planet Earth, is our responsibility and our duty. If we do not wake up soon we will see our planet's destruction and we will suffer the consequences of the drastic changes in the climate and weather... We must stop cutting trees and start planting them, recycling, and we must stop dumping waste products in the rivers and oceans and stop damaging the Ozone layer with the use of aerosol and spray cans. We must take action now and ask our government to place recycle bins everywhere in the streets and in public places. Wherever there is a trash bin, there should be a recycling bin right next to it." Take an active role in saving the planet by planting trees in your community and especially in the depleted areas where there are no trees now. Ask your government to stop the cutting of trees in areas where developers are ruthless and are cutting trees in order to build homes and condominiums and shopping malls. These areas are lacking trees and this is one of the main reasons we are having so many catastrophic natural disasters around the world and the reason the weather has become so extreme in so many parts of the world including the USA. It is time that we, as a race wake up and take action in our communities and be conscious of the damage that the planet is suffering. We must start using more bicycles and stop polluting the air with gasoline and smog!  I really hope we will learn to save the planet before it is too late..." -Karlisima

Symbols of Mother Nature such as the sun, rainbows, volcanoes, fire, Corn, Quetzal birds, red roses, trees, dramatic purple and orange skies at sunset are some of the elements that fill her paintings with the notion that the Land is, indeed, sacred. We are one with the Land, and one with all life, and therefore, we must respect the Land and protect it. She believes that protecting and preserving Mother Nature (the beautiful Planet Earth, as she calls it), is our responsibility and our duty. These paintings will show you the love that Karlisima has for our amazing Mother Nature, our Mother Earth.

Her devotion to the arts has garnered her numerous awards including a recognition given by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for her contribution to the Arts as “a National Hispanic Heritage Pride” for her exhibit titled “Magic, Myth and the American Way.”  She has received numerous grants from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, as well as being featured as one of the ten most recognized Salvadoran-Americans in the book titled “Salvadorans in America.”

Karlisima has exhibited extensively around the world, most recently in London, in July 2005, and in Germany in September 2005, and November 2006. Her paintings are most notably collected in private collections and museums in Germany, Italy, England, Switzerland, France, El Salvador and the United States. Several of her artworks belong to private collections in New York.  One of her self-portraits is the signature piece of the Women of the Word Exhibit and two of her Self-Portraits belong to the permanent collection of the International Museum of Women in San Francisco, California.

Karlisima resides in Washington D.C. and is a full-time artist. She also works part-time as a medical French and Spanish interpreter community clinics and hospitals to be able to share her language skills and interact and be of assistance to the people who need her the most: the Latino community and French-speakers from Africa. She also works with several D.C. based community centers to teach mural painting to underprivileged children and youth at risk. She made a mural with MILPA (a Salvadoran - Latin Organization) and Latin American children at the Wesley United Methodist Church to stimulate and encourage children to use their energies in positive and creative mural projects.

She is a role model for young minorities as evidenced by her work teaching Latin teenagers to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol and drug awareness (www.soyunica.gov)

For possible mural commissions, art workshops at schools or community centers, or for slide presentations of Karlisima’s paintings and murals, contact Karlisima at karlisima@hotmail.com

These are some of the websites that Karlisima recommends:

http://www.mayamericacortez.com (Books, Poetry, Writings, Classes, and her Artistic Creations)

   http://www.gigatechconsulting.com  (Computer and I.T. Consulting, Web Design)

http://www.bgoldenassociates.com      (Britani Golden's Accounting Firm and Tax Services)

   http://www.monikarice.com   (Monika's Books and More)

Divine Science Churches: (Metaphysical Teaching, Metaphysical Books and More)

                    Divine Science of the Healing Christ    http://www.divinescience.org   (Located in Washington D.C.)

                      Divine Science Church of Crestwood, St. Louis  http://www.divinesciencechurch.org  

(Located in St. Louis, Missouri)

First Divine Science Church of Denver http://www.dvscdnvr.org (Located in Denver, Colorado)

Divine Science School http://www.dsschool.org  Divine Science School for Study and to take Classes