Lucya Fatima Almeida was born in 1966 in Angola , Africa where her family
lived for a number of years. Lucya's parents immigrated from the Portuguese
islands of the Acores to Canada when she was four and lived in Brampton,
Ontario.  Both parents worked  with their hands, her mother as a clothing
designer and seamstress and her father as a master carpenter. From an early
age Lucya would collect all kinds of materials, like wood shavings from her
father's workshop to fabric off cuts from her mother's, to produce her own
creations. They moved to Toronto when Lucya was nine years old to a
neighbourhood  where there was a bead shop two blocks away. In 1988 Lucya
turned a childhood hobby into a successful career when she was laid off her
office job. She began by teaching herself to work with acrylic clay,
leather, beads and plastics. She took a metal working course through the
Board of Education and  then a third year part time metalworking course at
George Brown College.
    Lucya has sold her jewellery to galleries and boutiques all over the
country and continues to show and sell her work in shows and festivals
mostly in Southern Ontario. She is now based in the country in the beautiful
rolling hills of Bethany, a small town just one hour and 10 minutes 
northeast of Toronto where she lives with her family and raises her
daughter. You can visit Lucya there by appointment or during the Rolling
Hills Studio Tour once a year in May on Mother's day weekend.

She also has a studio and workshop in Toronto in the "Art & Design District"
where she can be met by appointment. Lucya also paints pictures from time to
time of which she is self taught and sometimes uses on her jewellery. She
also taught herself photography including darkroom printing and showed and
sold her photography in the early nineties.
    Lucya trained from 1995 until 1999 at the Transpersonal Therapy Center
in Toronto  (www.transpersonalcanada.com) and has worked part time on and off as a therapist since.She can be seen for one on one psychotherapy at her
Toronto studio. Lucya also studied  percussion  privately with various
teachers for many years and has performed at  venues in Toronto in different
ensembles. She also produces and performs  the Annual Summer's End
Celebration every labour day weekend  in Bethany.