Maria Apelo Cruz, the creative director of MJ Atelier, is an artist whose skills often seem a rarity in the modern age. Cruz is trained to the highest level in figurative and Old Masters painting, dedicating over thirty years to learning the techniques of artistic forefathers.

Using skills akin to those used by the Renaissance artists, she composes classical scenes to create illusions of space and depth. Cruz is unique in her progressive techniques, having researched and developed an innovative, patented technique for sculptural plaster, which has now become a trademark of her work.