One of  Veranda Park's  most valued assets is in-house artist Alberto Rivas. Rivas has been instrumental in creating many of the superb architectural designs found throughout Veranda Park, Orlando’s preeminent elite lifestyle community. His artwork can be found on many of the frescos and murals throughout Veranda Park as well as on the original mosaics that line the verandas and residential foyers.

Born the third child of a Portuguese mother and Mexican Father in Mexico City in 1959, Rivas demonstrated extraordinary artistic gifts from an early age. His father, an architect well known in Mexico for designing plush resort hotels, and his mother, an avid oil and landscape painter, encouraged Rivas throughout his childhood to develop his natural interests in perspective, color, texture, and shape.

Moving frequently throughout South America as a child due to his father’s work, Rivas was influenced by the varied regions and cultures in which he found himself. Living in what was at the time a small fishing village on the Yucatan Peninsula in the mid ‘70s, Rivas learned to scuba dive and was awestruck by the striking natural array of structures and colors in the coral formations off the coast of Mexico .
He also developed an interest in the pre-Columbian history of the Mayan and Aztec cultures, frequently taking excursions with his older brother to study the ruins of their ancient cities.

Later, as a young man majoring in illustration at the Ringling School of Art & Science in Sarasota , he was strongly influenced by the Venetian landscape works of Victorian artist Andrea Canaletto. After college, he apprenticed for several years under his father, allowing him his first opportunity to design interior and exterior space.

His father’s experiences working with renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright taught him that there is beauty in simplicity, and his personal affinity for Mexican folk art taught him that there is also beauty in imperfection.

These lessons were not forgotten when Rivas later seized an opportunity to tour Italy extensively. There he studied the classical architecture of ancient Rome and Renaissance Europe and became enthralled by the study of the five orders of architecture and the idealistic pursuit of perfection in the arches and columns of the historic cities of Tuscany, Venice, and Rome. He also studied the work of such great minds as Vignola and Palladio who labored to canonize the classic forms found in these great cities.

All of these impressions, from childhood through to adulthood, have lent a unique perspective to Rivas’ eye which manifests itself in his exquisite work. Whether he is finding new sources for unique stone mosaics from newly discovered artisans during his world travels, or creating an innovative stone panel design in his very own studio, the works found in our showroom are truly special. Well respected for his architectural design work in Central Florida , Rivas is now allowing clients to experience the joy of texture, the thrill of color, and the beauty of natural stone in their very own residences through the exclusive line of products he has developed for  Veranda Park .

Click to Print This Page