He began drawing in his adolescent years and entered the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts on a scholarship at the age of 16.
His greatest influences were the artists of the "Havana School": Carlos Enríquez, René Portocarrero, Cundo Bermúdez, as well as his professors, most notable being modernist painter Fidelio Ponce.
[1] Although the group had a relatively short life, 1959–1961, and exhibited together only a few times, they remain an important part of Cuba's art history especially in the pre-Castro years and leading up to the revolution.
Mijares’ work has been exhibited at several major shows in Havana, Paris, Caracas, Port-au-Prince (Haiti), São Paulo, Tokyo, Washington D.C., and Miami, among other cities.
His thematic material is biological in character, based on living organisms: the life latent with no static form imparts a poetic mystery to his compositions .... As a colorist, Mijares continues a tradition long identified with his country.