Cesilia Gutierrez

Currently resides in Southern California. Employed at Disney Television Animation as a Color Designer.

Those Saturday morning cartoons meant so much to me when I was younger. Although my parents never understood English, they always kept me company every Saturday when my favorite shows were airing. What made me even happier is the fact that they still laughed when I laughed. They understood all the humor through the characters' actions, gestures, and expressions. These cartoons broke a language barrier just through story telling and now my father is able to say, "stupid dog, you make me look bad!" all thanks to Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Growing up with immigrant parents demonstrated to me how hard you have to work in order to thrive, which is why I began my early years training to be a nurse. I became a Certified Nursing Assistant as well as a Medical Assistant, and took care of ill patients before graduating high school. I was on track towards being an Registered Nurse until an instructor noticed I was providing sketches to my patients. The instructor questioned if I was really sure that nursing was the career route I wanted to pursue.

I decided to take a risk and enrolled in school for art the very next day.