AWA.Oli – The Enchanter of the Stones

Oli is a Tico born in Heredia. His first steps into the world of art were at the College of Craftsmen, where he learned the bases of the trade, and it was not until he began to travel the world that his inspiration grew to stratospheric levels. When Oli was about 20 years old, he went to the Costa Rican beaches to sell his art.

This experience opened his eyes: meeting so many artisans from different countries, with their cultures and marked accents, who easily traded their pieces and were free, was a call to discover the world, avoid a life in a suit, tie, and office. He wanted to live intensely, so he quit his job, and with the settlement, he started the journey.

The first destination was Cuba; he invested his money in merchandise and returned to sell it wholesale, recovered liquidity, and went to South and Central America, where he learned a lot, especially that fulfilling dreams requires effort and some strategy. He gained the experience that made him mature and grow. Then he went to Europe, Asia, and Africa, circling for several years in these continents, changing country, culture, language, people, and inspiration every three months. He nourished his brain with information, artistic styles, colors and features, customs, and ways of life. These experiences triggered him every day with new ideas, materials, and techniques until he polished his own art version.

Oli knows more than 60 countries; each one has left him something. I asked him if he "regretted" something throughout all those adventures, and he said "yes." Take note, here comes a golden anecdote: Oli says that many times he moved from one place to another, hoping one day  to return  and find  that same magic that made him fall in love. He always kept his promises to return, but he realized that it was not the same every time he returned to a loved place. It was not only the place that had the magic but the combination of elements such as friends, energy, festivals, traditions, love, and the environment of that moment. It is like waking up from a dream and wanting to sleep to return to the exact moment without succeeding. That is why his advice is that we live each day intensely and that when we love something, to enjoy it to the fullest because we do not know how long it will last.

Oli confesses that he did not know what he was leaving when he left Costa Rica as a young man. Until he traveled the world, he knew how lucky he was to have this home.

Sixty countries, yes, it sounds fantastic, but whoever knows the world knows that Costa Rica is a little piece of heaven: a small tropical paradise with rich lands, beautiful people, and perfect weather.

Oli returned three years ago; his new home is Costa Ballena. His artistic brand is AWA: a bribri word that means "the one who collects the stones," and that is what Oli wants to do, to travel the world collecting small treasures to create art, bring them to Costa Rica, and inspire others to live their own adventure, just as he one day recognized his path between beaches and beautiful people.