Southport Magazine

Naturally Artistic
Missy Tripp Ronquillo wins Maggie – Favorite Local Artist!
Story by: Carla Edstrom
“My art is my life,” says local artist Missy Tripp Ronquillo and owner of Pescado Y Amor paint studio and gallery on Oak Island. “I pretty much am creating from the time I wake up in the morning until I fall asleep. It is what I do.”

Her non-stop creativity is evident with her paintings and other fabulous creations adorning her studio from floor to ceiling. From large acrylic sea life paintings to recycled and up-scaled glass windows, Ronquillo’s art encompasses a wide range of mediums to showcase her immense creative talents. She has an infectious passion for art and vibrant enthusiasm for life that is apparent in her work. Her positive nature is motivating and challenging to me as an artist myself to keep creating and growing.
“I always knew I wanted to be an artist of some sort,” said Ronquillo.
She started her art schooling at the Corcoran School of Art and Design in Washington DC and then transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University In Richmond, VA where she received her B.F.A In Painting. She earned her Masters in Fine Art at Savannah College of Art & Design. Ronquillo says that her biggest influence for her art is her grandfather Irving Tripp, who was an American comic book artist best known as the illustrator of Little Lulu comics.
A native of NC being born in Raleigh, Ronquillo is happy to be back by the beach and closer to family on the East Coast. Being brought up in a military family, she lived all over the US, Europe and Mexico. Her art definitely showcases her experiences of travel and living in Mexico with her use of bright festive colors and bold lines. She explained that living in the Southport area is “the longest I have lived anywhere in my whole Life. It is now my home.” And we are happy to have her!
Knowing that she always wanted to have her own art space that she could call her own, she and her husband opened a studio where Ronquillo could teach students and also work on her own art. “My husband, Ron and I started Pescado Y Amor on a warm summer day in 2009 while living in Sayultia, Mexico. We moved to Oak Island the same year and slowly progressed into this fabulous art studio,” says Ronquillo.
“We started the business in Mexico where it was of a gathering or artists that would get together and start painting.” But it didn’t stop at being an art studio for artists. Ronquillo’s talent for teaching would come into play when others who were not painters would want to learn, and so she helped them along. “We really fell into the painting process,” she explained. “We started our business with the love of art and making art and living at the beach. Ever since graduating from school I have been teaching painting in some form so it makes sense that it slowly has transformed into a teaching space, and my studio space where you find me working most days of the week … as well as my gallery.”
With classes several times a week, there is a class for everyone including paint your own pet portraits, and painting while you do yoga. Whether it’s a class for adults where they can bring their own beverages and have a party, to toddler and after school classes for kids. Dream catchers, painted pillows and other textile work all add to the creativity of her classes. She also offers cut out wooden sea life creatures for painting like pelicans and whales. There are even classes using recycled and tumbled glass and resin.
Ronquillo strives to have this art experience be fun and memorable for her students. When she teaches painting, she will sketch out the drawing that the class is doing for each student, but then encourages her students to look outside of the box and add different dimensions to their creations, making their work of art personal and their own. It will be an exciting time this spring at Pescado Y Amor as they are going to be organizing the studio so that they can offer some open studio hours for people to work on their own projects outside of classes. According to Ronquillo, “People can just walk in and work on something or create something new.” She hopes this will be good for locals and tourists alike who want a place to create.
Although the classes take up a lot of her time, Ronquillo still manages to do commission work and get out of the studio for other projects such as painting live events as they happens. “It takes me out of the studio and makes the art of interacting part of the painting,” she said. “Custom paintings are a big part of my business as an artist,” she said. “I have painted murals or custom artwork for homes and businesses all over the United States and Mexico.” Living on the beach influences her work as most of it is beach related, but she also has non-beach work such as a series that focuses on the human body. “Creating this studio on Oak Island has definitely made me push myself and keeps me trying to find new ways to keep people interested in my art. I guess I feel more like an artist at this point in my life than I ever have,” she said.
Ronquillo lives on Oak Island with her husband Ron, her dog Sabby and cat Panny. To commission her for work or take a class, you can reach her by email pescadoyamor@att.net and through her website
http://www.pescadoyamor.com/.