Ileana del Socorro Aleman Maltez & Donaldo Rocha Lopez

Husband and wife team, Ileana del Socorro Aleman Maltez and Donaldo Rocha Lopez recently opened a small shop in lovely Catarina, a quaint village overlooking Lago Apoyo outside of Masaya, Nicaragua. They sell their paintings and various trinkets from this shop, and hope to make it their main livelihood. This entrepreneurial endeavor was a risk and a hope for them, and as their reputations as painters become better known, they hope to support themselves and their two children through the sale of their art.


Both Ileana and Donaldo are natives of Niquonohomo, a town outside Masaya famous as the birthplace of the political and folk hero Augusto Cesar Sandino. They are both self-taught and originally began painting in the 1980’s and 1990’s, during the Sandinista period. Ileana comes originally from a family of farmers, and her father began to paint as a reprieve from the hard work of farming. He started a community art group for the youth of the neighborhood, and Ileana eventually became its director. She describes her work as reflecting the people and the simple villages of proletarian Nicaragua, the fertile and fresh lands of Nicaragua with its characteristic lakes and volcanoes.

Below left, "Atarecer en Mi Pueblo" by Ileana Aleman Maltez. Oil on linen. Below right, "Pescadores" by Donaldo Roche Lopez. Oil on linen.

Donaldo began painting in the 1990’s, and was encouraged by a fellow artist, Arnulfo Palacios Mercado, who had already achieved some success as a painter. Donaldo began painting as a diversion, and has now made it his life work. Initially he exhibited his works in the Masaya Mercado or tourist market, but found his work sold for too little and he was able to keep too little after other expenses. Two years ago, he and his wife moved their shop to the village of Catarina, a smaller town with lower expenses, but a popular tourist destination.

Both Ileana and Donaldo’s art is different from the work of artists from Solentiname in that their subject matter reflects the simple villages and landscapes of the mountainous and volcanic areas around Masaya. They are attracted to subjects that are agrarian, including gardens and life in small villages.

Ileana’s works have been exhibited in Central America and in Europe since 1984. Donaldo has exhibited in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and France.