Ana María was born on May 28, 1937 in Santa Ana, a cosmopolitan city in the western region of El Salvador in Central America.  She is the younger sister of the remarkable Salvadorian painter San Avilés (1932-1991).

She participated in a clay modeling course sponsored by the French embassy in San Salvador (1967 - 1968) and then made casts and polychrome molds using many techniques including encaustics, which she would later use in paintings, combined with other contemporary techniques and materials. Since 1974 she dedicates totally to paintings in canvas, using acrylic colors.

Her work resides in highly prestigious museums and collections, such as the Duchess of Alba collection in Spain and the permanent collection of contemporary painters in the Museo Marte, the National Gallery of El Salvador.  In 2007, Ana Maria’s work was featured in the Latin Masters exhibition at the Nassau County Museum of Art in New York, alongside other world renowned artists such as Frida Kalo and Fernando Botero. Her work has been successfully auctioned at prestigious galleries and auction houses worldwide, such as Sotheby's and Christie's New York.