My name is Maria Carolina Cruz.  I am a Londoner and proud to be a subject of Her majesty Queen Elizabeth. I was made in England, and to England my heart belongs. My roots however are in Colombia, the land of the Andes, the mighty Magdalena river, two oceans, the Amazon rain forest, the desert of La Guajira and the foothills of los llanos. Being British and Colombian has made me an incredibly versatile and cosmopolitan person, complex and rich as the lands which I call my motherlands.  My ancestors were ferocious traders of cotton, coffee and later on in life Class G Cement for the oil Industry.  They were also nomads, relentlessly trading across South America.  The trading in the blood made me a little entrepreneur at the age of 7.    Since I wasn´t allowed to trade the G Cement of my grandfather, I had to invent the way to make money to fuel my little girl´s dream of owning all the land of the Caribbean coast of Colombia.  So I began trading with homemade bracelets, my own brand, made by me.  Everyone at school bought my bracelets and my wallet was always full. I spent it all not buying the Caribbean coast, but publishing my first book: "A star shines forever".  I wrote the book to send it to Michael Jackson.  I used the pseudonym of Rendy James.  I thought Michael would like that name more than Maria Carolina Cruz.  So I kept the Rendy James for years while dreaming to one day read in the newspapers of the world:  Rendy James marries Michael Jackson.  If you read this and know me already for many years, you still call me "Cacru Jackson" and you already know how devastating it was for me to see Michael Jackson die. If you dont know me that well, I can tell you this: when Michael died, a large part of my heart went away with him. I loved him with an adolescent love that will never die.

Since I never married Michael Jackson, I had to choose another path. So I chose to become a Petroleum Engineer.  Yes!, P.E.T.R.O.L.E.U.M, you read well.  My friends in high school thought I was mad.  My teachers thought it was a disaster since everyone was convinced I would not only marry Michael Jackson but that a career in Politics was the one for me.  But to be honest with you, I secretly still wanted to buy all the land in the Caribbean of Colombia, and I needed money, and I thought, yes I thought, that PETROLEUM was the answer.  Yes, I wanted to be called J.R and for this reason my closest friends and closest detractors called me "Lola": meaning "La Loca": "The Crazy one".  At University I became the president of the Offshore Association Shier A Tuath. I was the president, the creator, the publicist, the speaker, the media contact, all in one.  But I was incredibly successful at attracting my colleagues to the wonders of the offshore oil and gas world.  My work in this association was the reason I joined still as a student an amazing company:  British Petroleum.

I loved my job in the drilling rigs!  My time with BP was one of the best times of my life.  I met some of my greatest mentors and friends in life who I still love and admire, including my husband and life partner Ralph.  But I wanted to live in Scotland, so after graduation I moved there to study an MSc in Petroleum Engineering.  Yes, again P.E.T.R.O.L.E.U.M.   Another great year in my life at Edinburgh, the magnificent capital of Scotland.  Again, friends and colleagues for life, 32 nations in a 35 people classroom.  What a great privilege it has been to walk the streets of Syria with my Dutch friend, or to Skype from New York City to Lagos with my Nigerian Friend of the MSc.  And being lost in the desert of Oman with my mega rival of University, it was like a credit card advert:  simply priceless. 

Before graduation I joined Shell International to work in the North Sea of Scotland.  I worked on board the Ocean Guardian, a semisubmersible rig, and the Brent Bravo Platform, one of the 4 giant Brent Platforms in the North Sea.   My work offshore has inspired my first two books "The adventures of Camila in the oil world", and "The adventures of Grobje and the Crew of pirates".  When you read the books, real life was not that much different.

I moved then to the office and worked in Aberdeen, Scotland and moved later on in life to the Netherlands.  I learned dutch but could never practice it.  Dutch people insisted to talk to me in english! even when I talked to them in their taal (language).  So the taal, became the broken glass, and I realized that a wonderful life, had reached an end.  I needed to be born again.  So I resigned from a Company that I love and respect for all the wonderful experiences and opportunities.  I moved to New York City to pursue a career in art and I spent endless hours at the metropolitan museum of art, detoxing my life of the noise, the excessive testosterone of a male working environment, and the competition for black gold.  I found my detox in Rembrandt and Van Gogh, I have no doubt that they would have definitely shared their taal with me.  I got inspired by David and Fragonard.  I became the richest woman in the world surrounded by the masterpieces of the Met, while burning my frustrations forever jogging at the Jackie K reservoir in Central Park.  Voili!  I was born again!   So I am now a connoisseur of American art, the Dutch golden era, the French neoclassical painters and the ancient art of Feng Shui.  I no longer want to buy the entire coastline of the Caribbean of South America but I dream on becoming the new Robert Lehman, a true keeper and protector of the greatest wealth in the world:  art.

After my "artist on the making" gap year, I completed the Executive MBA at Harvard from which I graduated. I am an expert in Mergers and Acquisitions and my Harvard MBA entitles me to call myself a business woman.

The new Maria Carolina is an artist, an engineer and a business woman, but of all of these, I like to define myself as an artist. I think we are all natural born artists, we just happen to call what we do and really love another name.  Sometimes we forget that we are artistis, but we are destined to remember at some point in our lives, because art is a calling from the angels.  I also write, about many subjects: petroleum, art, philosophy, immigration, fashion, you name it, all the faces of one woman.  I have founded my own Publishing Company in England, Planet Alice Productions Ltd and while I write and create, I also publish and position my books in the world market.  My Company has now a branch outside of the UK, and you will be able to find my books in Asia since the new Company Branch in Istanbul, Turkey will handle all the Asian business.  We continue growing every day. So my brand is... girls united... Maria Carolina, Rendy James, Cacru Jackson, Lola, you name it, the list goes on and on and on.  All girls, one woman, I am every woman.

Maria Carolina