Raphael was born in Denver Colorado, the seventh of nine children to Tomas and Viola Sanchez. Tomas Raphael Maximo Sanchez a pensive child that used to see turtles, bears, giraffes, horses and faces in the clouds. He grew up in the 60s a true flower child, always a very passionate person especially pertaining to form, design, texture and color, and an admirer of Modigliani, Picasso, Diego Rivera and Basquiat. Raphael experimented with music first, discovering his passion for ceramic and canvas painting among other media when receiving training at San Miguel de Allende art school in Guanajuato Mexico in 1987.

Exploring new techniques of casting paper, using found objects and handmade forms to create unique sculptures. Raphael is a true mixed media artist, using oil paint, acrylic paint, board, canvas, paper, glass, modeling paste, and sometimes concrete, and mixing them together in one piece, which makes Raphael’s pieces very distinctive and unique. The variety of sizes and finishes shows his creativity and ability to manipulate the mediums he uses to express himself. After traveling around the nation and other countries showing his art for thirty years, he decided to camp in Denver and reinvent his techniques and refresh his inner child. Active member of the Denver Art Society, CHAC Gallery and Cultural Center, a current member of Art Students League of Denver, and former board member of The Greater Castle Rock Art Guild, Raphael found himself in a time that he describes as “a time of endless possibilities.”

While being a prolific artist who has great respect for the past, Raphael reaches into the future without fear of experimenting with new techniques and mediums.