Gladys Loayza was born in Lima, Peru and struggled against her parents’ wishes to become a painter. They feared she would “starve to death” as an artist. But Loayza had committed herself to studying art; her concession to her parents was that she would, in addition to graduating as a painter, study to become a teacher as well.

Her initial years in the profession were difficult and she was forced to teach at different institutions, including drawing at the Fashion Design firm of Selene and painting at the private schools of Leon Pinelo, El buen Pastor and Maria Pardo de Bellido in order to support herself. Some of her more recent exhibitions, including the Exposition of Art at Escuela Sperior de Bellas Artes have gained her international recognition.