We are always thrilled to hear from our OAs and none more so than our European visitors. Alvaro Hernandez (OA 1995-1996) recently got in touch with us having come across some photographs of his time in Form 4. We asked Hernandez to tell us a bit about his time at Ardvreck and his life since the mid 90s. Here is what he said:

I attended Ardvreck for one year, from 1995-1996. It was a challenging year dedicated to learning English, and fully supported by my parents. I remember my first day there; Tom Walker helped me with everything. It was a funny and tough experience as I could not speak a word of English. However, after a few months, I started to learn more and more, and by the end, I could speak and understand
everything.

That year has always remained in my memory. I had amazing experiences; I will never forget my art lessons, which were completely different from anything that I was accustomed to in Spain. Music was also a fantastic and entirely new experience for me, not to mention the invaluable lessons I learned from sports like rugby, football, hockey, and cricket. It instilled in me a strong sense of teamwork. I could go on and on about what I remember from that year; everything was new to me - living at theschool, the culture, the people. It helped me grow immensely. Thanks to that experience, I can confidently say that my career has been continuously growing and has become international, all thanks to learning English. Ardvreck is an incredibly important part of my life.

After Ardvreck, I continued my studies in Valencia, always focusing on art, and eventually earning my degree in product design from the university in Valencia with my last year in Rovaniemi, Finland.

I have applied all my knowledge in art and design to what I'm doing now. As an artist, I'm now blending my various backgrounds; I discovered graffiti thanks to hip-hop music as a teenager as my dad was a big fun of jazz music. Through a Miles Davis song I discover hip hop, and now I'm merging graffiti with my Valencia/Mediterraneanroots. The Roman and Greek cultures of our past create a perfect mix with the graffiti aesthetic of the 80s and 90s, allowing me to express myself and tell new stories based on our past. Under the name PichiAvo, my partner and I work together with a team, creating ideas and projects all around the world, bringing graffiti and classical culture closer to everyone, is not just graffiti for me or for us in art.

You can find PichiAvo’s work in galleries and walls in different cities around the world. More information can be found on our website https://www.pichiavo.com.