“Luz-Maria Lopez, a Honduran-born artist, has made her home in Louisiana for most of her life. After working for many years and raising a family, she went back to school and, at age 51, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southeastern Louisiana University at Hammond, Louisiana. Her works are mixed media, primarily figurative in nature, and inspired by Latin American culture and the Mayan influence in her native country. She has participated in numerous group and solo shows nationally, including at the Meadows Museum at Centenary College, LA; Alexandria Museum of Art, LA; Imperial Calcasieu Museum, LA.; Museum of Latin American Art, CA; Mobile Museum of Art, AL.; Hunter Museum of American Art, TN.

After developing her talent and displaying her work, Lopez garnered praise from many, including noted art critic F. Lennox Campello, who describes her pieces as “rich with narrative interest and intelligent composition.” To create her pieces, which are collected both nationally and internationally, Lopez draws from her past, incorporating her background, culture, interests, and history, resulting in meaningful works.

Lopez was commissioned by Southeastern Louisiana University to design and execute a series of panels depicting the various creation myths of the native peoples of the Americas. Her work was also selected for a project hosted by Griffith University in Queensland, Australia and has been featured in exhibits in the Alexandria Museum of Art, the Masur Museum of Art, and the Hunter Museum of American Art, among others.”

Inscription on the back reads as follows: "Two sisters went to the river to wash their clothes. They each encountered an old woman who asked them for help. One sister helped the old woman, but the other sister refused. The sister who helped was rewarded with a gold star in her forehead and with gold stars and pearls coming out of her mouth. The sister who refused to help was punished by having snakes and frogs coming out of her mouth. Some believe the old woman was really the Virgin Mary in disguise, who came to punish evil deeds and reward good deeds. The moral of the story is this: when you speak with love and kindness, good things come back to you. When you speak evil and hate, bad things come back to you."