LIFE

"Life", one of the last works I've done. Oil on canvas (61 X 46). Work cataloged. 2008

YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

This work is finished in July and has been part of several exhibitions. The reason is real, as it exists because it is made from a photo I made in a bar. It is incredible as we were suddenly in front of us and from our eyes, that works, just that, as if we had been waiting for. This is a picture for me full of meanings, hence the title. Oil on canvas. 60 X 40. Work exhibited and catalogued.

VILLAGE OF LAS HURDES

Here I present my last work to you based on a photo which I did in the region of Las Hurdes, in Cáceres. The distance from where I made the photo, the light, the air, the point of view, the progressive distance of those ascending mountains but in a landscape without sky,… , they have been present as authentic reasons for this work, for which I have had to often resort to a great attention to detail, and in other cases to a defined representation less and of loose. On the other hand it is a picture of many pictures, many corners, a loaded place of histories and senses. Be my simple tribute to the Extremadura people and its earth. Oil on canvas (60 X 80cm). In private collection.

THE RIVER TORMES

Here I present you this work recently finished whose motive is the river Tormes crossing the village called Alba de Tormes, as usually, is based on a photography of mine. In this case the contrast of colors surprised me, calling me deeply the attention that "red area" that crowds in the edges of the river. Oil on canvas. (40X60 cm). In private collection.

DIEGUITO

This work is an authentic challenge because of its point of view absolutely not conventional It is a quite different work of the previous one, and very daring, and has obliged me to set in motion multiple technical aspects and a lot of patience... but has supposed a great learning. The wall effect and the growing floor are optic effects painted. I expect that turn out to be interesting for you. Oil on canvas. 60X80 cm

COURTYARD

The photo for this work I took it in the courtyard of the village house of my woman when after washing some towels they were put to dry, and it seemed to me, as soon as I saw him, a very interesting composition and a thematic for this picture. Oil on canvas. 46X61 cm. In private colection.

TRACK

The challenge was mainly in elevating to the category of pictorial art, one place that in fact is not beautiful, adding an adverse weather and a muddy ground. This is the result. It has 61x46 and it is oil on canvas. The photo is taken in a town of Toledo.

A SPECIAL PORTRAIT

On this Portrait painting from a photo made to my brother and little sister the day of my First Communion. My sister had 2 years and my brother 12. It is a very special picture for me, with familiar character and tenderness scene. The little one is sleepy but still holding the brother´s jacket… In addition it is a work that has much of pictorial reflection.
For the carrying out of the bottom picture I attended in several occasions to the Prado Museum in Madrid to see the backgrounds of some pictures of Velazquez like “Pablo of Valladolid”. So you can see this background with not background, walking nowhere, the absence of referring space,…Unfortunely it was recently damaged so I am at this moment trying to repair it,. It has 92 cm. and it is from 1998.

PICTURES OF BIG FORMAT

Big pictures have always being interesting to me, and I even dared to make some. During a time I painted one per year. The first one I did was titled “Between two natures” - also I include here the Expolio picture- that I painted when I was 20 in 1994, and you do not know the big mess I organized with each one of these works in the Dining Room of my house that it is only 1,75m height. In addition it is painted on wood. It was the first naked that I painted based on a photo that I did to one of my brothers.

This work “Mountain Footpath” was included in the exhibition before named. It measures 1.62 meters and it is painted in canvas in 1995.

The idea of this work “the Crucifixion” came up to me four years before being able to carry it out. Finally in 1996, one year before, I painted it after organizing a photographic session with two friends. It measures 1.46 Ms and it was for me the first exercise of naked.

In this picture I faced for the first time in serious an urban landscape. So I took the works of the Natural Gas Company that were doing in my street, I posed close to one ditch (on the brink of madness), and took a photo from which I painted it. This oil on wood panel was painted in 1997 (it has 1,50m).

FOOTPATHS

When I began to make my own works at the beginning I was interested in pure nature landscapes with footpath, a way or a footpath without people or constructions. That is, without the man´s hand. I love the depth feeling …

“On this way”. I showed a new exhibition in 1995 and it was titled: “The Natural path. The path of Love”, here you have three little examples of the first part.

This one above was presented and selected at the biennial of Durán on 1996.

This work is made in 2004, and as the other ones are based on photos that I did in my little trips. Sorry for the bad quality of some of the photos. If I manage to get better photos I will just download it for you. All paintings are in privates collections.

PORTRAIT PAINTINGS

Here I show some of the pictures that I have made in the last years.

They are inspired on the basis of photographies.

All measure 61 x 46 and it is oil painted.

THE JEWEL

When I was 18 I put my mind in the task of painting the Gioconda because I wanted to show myself that I could paint also in a calm and traditional way, So I tested myself copying the Gioconda, of Leonardo da Vinci. I never consider it like finished, but I will not touch it up again. And like it happened with the original one, it always goes with me.

FIRST PERIOD OF COPIES

Here I show a pair of examples of that first period of copies from great painters: The Expolio, from Greco, 2 meters of height, made with 13 years old, and the Breakfast of the Friends, Renoir, 1.20 meters, made with 15 years old.

ABOUT ME AND THE PAINTING

I was born in Madrid (Spain) in 1974.

My memories about my love for art occupies all my life, I remember when I was a little boy and I was always drawing. But if I have to put a date I always choose a little moment in my life when I fancied to get a small box of tempera tubes that I had to pay by credit (about 45 days) using my “ pocket money”. I was only seven years old. But, do you want to know something?……

I still keep the first “picture” that I painted, it is a little destroyed now, but of course I will keep it, the one with a white frame. The other pictures are also from the same time.
I am going to begin a work of cleaning and restoration of every old one quite soon. because some pictures have been seriously affected for different reasons.

I was painting with tempera on white bed sheets. I applied on it egg white and later on I mounted it on a plywood in the carpentry of my father. When I was eleven years old, I began with the oil thanks to “a magical Christmas present” that in addition brought my first small easel to me and two canvas! My pictorial production from that moment on began to be really overwhelming, so that when I was thirteen years old I was already handling formats bigger than two meters.

I used to get some art books and I always copied pictures from some artists, mainly from the great ones. Sometimes I learned watching their pictures at the Prado Museum in Madrid – where I often used to slip myself in, when I was 11 years as it was not officially possible for me to have the Identity card that gave free entry to everyone. Thus I have in my personal pictorial pantheon, Jan Vermeer, Joaquin Sorolla, the Greco, Claude Monet… soon Velazquez would come ,and Goya - Miguel Angel, and still more with Massaccio, Caspar David Friedrich, and Caravaggio.

The Impressionism was a very important school for me. So that my first individual exhibition was titled : “Impressionist Painting Exhibition”. I was 17 years old, at that time I was making already my first own pictures. Just at that time I attended the last year of secondary school and I was invited to a TV Programme at TVE (National Spanish Television) to speak about the exhibition of Monet in the Juan March Foundation in Madrid, I was really shy! but I had the chance of speaking also about my first exhibition, wowwww !

Now I must be back to emphasize an also very important fact in the artistic part of my life. At home, there was always a guitar that my big brothers began to play quite soon. Because I didn’t want to lose rank, I decided to learn how to play it too.

I was then fourteen years old and since then the guitar has always been like one part of me, an extension of myself,, I owe a lot to you, my dear guitar! When I have not been able to paint, the composition with the guitar has covered the creativity need. I also have some few experiences giving concerts as a singer-songwriter and other greater compositions. Someday I will compile all my songs.

But following with the painting… An important moment was when I present myself to the national contest of Durán in 1996 and my work was between the selected ones and in addition it was sold. You do not know the emotion that I felt when I saw my picture in a catalogue. Somebody, from the national journal ABC, decided to mention my picture and to write about it, in the Journal Cultural Magazine.

I remember a friend that called me very happy about it; and I run to buy the newspaper. Wow!

I got a second position in the context. The picture was painted for an exhibition a couple of years before, when I was twenty years old, just after another group exhibition in the Italian ristorante Il Caminetto.

At that time I was in the half of University studies of History of Arts, and I was so busy, that I decided to paint less on those years.
Finally I received the Master's degree in History of Arts in 1999 and later on, the Master degree on Didactics in Social Sciences ,Geography and History. In September 2000
I found a job as a teacher in an private High School in the city of Avila (near to Madrid).

I gave lessons of history and history of art, I began also to give guitar lessons guitar for beginners, and I also organized a Painting Workshop for students, parents and teachers. I had already organized another Training Workshop in a church of my district in Madrid during my last University year and I had students with different ages. Painting in general means joy and suffer for me at the same time. During both Workshops I discovered the incredible joy of people when they begin for the first time with the easel painting.

They really enjoyed their own work , they were mad about painting , the same way does my beloved artist and great friend Meli.. The Workshop was a great learning life experience . We made a memorable exhibition in the walls of Avila.

Since then I have painted only for not losing my knowledge about it, and I also keep on mind how important is my own personal evolution despite of not always being able to paint.
Meanwhile I have painted only for not losing the minimum knowledge and practice.

But now is time for coming back to the past……

WELCOME

First of all thank you for being visiting my blog.

I hope you prove interesting and inspiring.

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