Chicqiela Elbert-Velazco is a retired teacher who taught art at Anderson Community School Corporation from 1976 to 2006. She also worked as a substitute art teacher for 10 years and two years as an adjunct art professor at Anderson University. She continues to teach art classes for nonprofit organizations on occasion. She is currently devoting more time to creating her own art in her home studio located in Alexandria, IN. She is influenced by her rural surroundings and animals and prefers drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, and lampwork glass beads to create her images.