In 2002 Herlinda took her first watercolor class and in the beginning her work was strictly representational until 2006 when she enrolled in her first abstract mixed media class at the Palos Verdes Art Center.
Herlinda found her new direction in this class. Her paintings continue to evolve as she experiments with different surfaces and materials.

Herlinda uses bold colors, and the images of her paintings come from the patterns and meanings of events in her life that she conveys in her artwork.

"I do not start my work with a preconceived idea as I want to leave myself open to what happens on the surface of the paper. I also like to experiment with different surfaces such as canvas, watercolor paper, illustration board and Yupo.
I use many transparent layers of acrylic layers of colors and add tissue paper or other collage materials. I love bold, vibrant colors and color is my language."