A lifetime of art: Tucson mother and daughter share creative roots

“I would post my paintings, and people started wanting to buy them,” she said. “That’s when it clicked.”

Today, Montaño paints out of her mother’s studio in Tucson’s Menlo Park neighborhood — a different space than the one she grew up in but one that still reflects the same shared creative energy. When de la Torre isn’t teaching, her daughters use the space to work on their own art.

“I respect their technique,” de la Torre said. “If they ask for help, I’m there, but I try not to change who they are as artists.”

That balance — guidance without pressure — has shaped Montaño’s artistic voice. While her mother’s work often focuses on depth and realism, Montaño has carved out her own path with vibrant, abstract pieces inspired by Mexican culture, identity and tradition.

“My thing is culture — music, food, identity,” Montaño said. “I just try to keep it alive.”

Her work features everything from saints and cultural symbols to nods to mariachi and Tejano music, all rooted in her heritage. Her latest pieces focus on women — their strength, resilience and role in shaping culture — themes that feel especially fitting given the influence of the women in her own life.

For de la Torre, watching her daughter grow into her own artist has been one of her greatest sources of pride.

“Alejandra is very good,” she said. “She’s going to go far.”

Though both mother and daughter share a love of art, their styles — and personalities — are different. It’s something de la Torre learned to embrace over time.

“Every person is different,” she said. “You have to treat them that way.”