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 Dimitar and Helen Krustev
Dimitar Krustev is a multi-talented artist, born and raised in the mountains of Bulgaria. He received a scholarship to the Academy of Arts, one out of three from 500 applicants. He later moved to the US, where he obtained a BA at Kent State, a Masters in Art degree at the University of Iowa, was a commercial artist for "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine, and owned his own studio where he painted and taught art to promising pupils.
 Dimitar married his most promising student, Helen Marie, and sharing their love of Mexico, they built their home and twin studios in Ajijic, Jalisco. Helen paints beautifully detailed paintings in acrylic, specializing in portraits and studies of indigenous people from many states of Mexico such as the Tarahumaras, Huicholes, Coras, Chiapanecas, etc. She is fascinated with the native costumes of these people and preserves their traditional dress in her paintings.
Helen accompanies Dimitar on cultural tours all over the world. Dimitar traveled deep into the Lacandon jungle of Mexico to live, paint and photograph the natives, and wrote a book called "River of the Sacred Monkey" about this region. Later he wrote a book about his life in Bulgaria, and he recently published a book on his experiences in Africa. Helen and Dimitar always show their works together. | | |
