Pepe Piedra was born in Casma, a town on the northern coast of Peru, where the Caral Civilization was developed in 2600 B.C., the oldest city on  the American Continent, where people did not know weapons but knew art.

Graduated from The National School of Fine Arts, he is a professional artist painting with Surreal Symbolic Style working with oils, acrylics and mixed media techniques.

Pepe Piedra became a known name as a musician, playing with Tierra Sur, the first reggae band in Peru, also playing Traditional Andean Music with several groups, Yawar been one of them. Later he moved to Washington DC – USA and founded in 1998 the RAYMI Band, mixing Traditional rhythms with Rock and Reggae.
He started to teach art at Summer Camps in Trujillo (North Peruvian Coast), then he moved to Lima (Peruvian Capital) and he kept teaching art as well. A decade afterwards, he moved once again, this time to the Washington DC area, where he continued with his duty as a teacher on private schools such as Henson Valley Montessori School in Maryland, and Sunrise Academy in DC. At the present, he opened the Blue Moon Studio School, helping new artists to fulfill their dreams in arts.

He also paints murals and participates at different art shows in DC, MD and VA.

I am doing my best to turn my mind inside out and see what it looks like framed. Anything is an inspiration, whether is a cultural, geographic, political or emotional, I like to allow anything to influence my art.

To be able to paint murals makes me feel like a child scribbling in the walls, it’s funny, I remember my parents used to punish me for it, although everything worked out now.

To me, painting means living life as an artistic experience - each unpainted canvas represents an opportunity of “being oneself”.

- Jose Piedra