At the heart of every piece created by master sculptor M. Peņa is the artist's
passion for living creatures. This passion, coupled with a lifelong study of
animal behavior and anatomy, and an astonishing gift for three-dimensional art,
results in sculpture so intriguing and lifelike it is without equal.Growing up in California, Peņa surrounded herself with animals. Keeping more than two dozen aquariums in her childhood bedroom, a pet toad in a wastebasket, and a chicken in a bucket, her collection of pets soon became the subjects of her artwork.
In college, Peņa studied biology and zoology in addition to painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Today, the artist is never far from her animals. Her glass-walled studio is surrounded by a veritable nature preserve: from parakeets and ponies, to iguanas, tortoises, and llamas. These creatures are the living
well from which Peņa draws inspiration... the models for the incredibly accurate
detail in her work.