Born Angel Ramiro Sanchez in 1974 in Maracaibo, Venezuela, at age six Ramiro was accepted with full scholarship into the Ninos Cantores School for musically gifted children. At age fourteen he began five years of apprenticeship with the realist painter, Abdon Jose Romero, an eminent specialist in murals for churches and public buildings. In 1993, a study grant from Mgr Gustavo Ocando Yamarte, Founder of the Ninos Cantores, enabled him to travel to Florence, Italy, where he successfully passed the admission examination for the renowned Accademia di Belle Arti. During the four years, he studied full time at the Accademia, receiving his diploma magna cum laude, Ramiro also attended drawing and painting sessions at the Florence Academy of Art, directed by painter Daniel Graves. Ramiro was appointed Senior Painting Instructor at the FAA in 1997. Ramiro's portraits and still lifes are in private collections in the United States and Europe. He lives and works in Florence.