Orlando de la Paz

Orlando’s family immigrated to the U.S. in 1978. He attended Alice Birney Elementary in San Diego, CA, and began making lunch money by drawing Star Wars figures like R2-D2 and C-3PO for various kids at school. A few years after Art College, Orlando was employed as a Character Artist for the Disney Company. After meeting Alison Arngrim, who portrayed Nellie Oleson on the NBC TV series Little House on the Prairie, Orlando changed his career from a Disney Artist to becoming a Set Painter for theatre productions. He worked with Scenic Designer Stephen Gifford on the production of A Little House Christmas at the Playhouse in Sierra Madre, CA.

Orlando decided to start painting sets after he watched a children’s adaptation of the play Aladdin. For a backdrop, the set designer had used a poster from the Aladdin movie. After the play, Orlando approached the director and asked if he could help paint the set for the next production, The King and I. The director accepted, and Orlando volunteered painting sets for several years until a friend asked him if he could paint the sets for a production of Nickel and Dimed at the Hudson—and offered to pay him. This would be Orlando’s first paying job as a Set Painter.

During this production, Trent Steelman, Executive Director at the Colony Theatre, saw Orlando’s work and fell in love with the marble floor he had painted. Trent and the Artistic Director, Barbara Beckley, requested to see Orlando’s portfolio and hired him to paint the sets for the Breath and Imagination show directed by Saundra McClain. The set was designed by Shawn Motley.

In 2024, Orlando was contracted to paint all of the Little House on the Prairie mock-up sets for the 50th Anniversary cast reunion, held in Simi Valley, California. This was a project near and dear to Orlando because he had been a huge fan of the books and the show growing up.

Today, Orlando still paints sets as well as canvas paintings. He loves collaborating on new projects, as well as consignment work.