This last months have been pretty emotional for me. Not only because of the pandemic, but because I had to move out of what was my studio for the last year and a half. This experience made me grow as an artist tremendously, it expanded my possibilities of creating and finding that space for me to think and just stare to the wall until the ideas come.
During this time of packing up the studio and weird isolation I became part of a Social Distance Bike Club on FB. Looking at all those people sharing their bike rides made me think of my own bike rides, social rides, Nature rides... and how fun is to ride with friends, how much I like to ride on my own, and how biking has been a big part of my life, since I was little until now.
Here I leave you with the last series of paintings I've done and the playlist of videos I created while painting them.
​Most of the paintings are available to purchase, you can contact me if you are interested. Prices and sizes here.

The Stay at Home order started a couple of weeks earlier in Spain. All my family is there while I do my thing an ocean apart in New York. Worrying about my family and friends, I started drawing a coloring page a day to download for free on my website. That made me feel good for a little bit, but after I felt I wanted to do something else, create something for myself.
That following week I thought, maybe a diary would be a good idea, but since I am not very fond of sitting down anr write about my feelings, I decided to go back to the image. I love creating images that tell stories, so that's what I was going to do. With that idea in mind, I started creating early morning self portraits, like a meditation system to put my mind in something else than what we are going through.

I get up, I get dressed, I make coffee and prepare the ink I am going to use that morning. I set up my cell phone to record the time lapse and I draw. A quick sketch on pencil some ink to capture the light and shadows of my face. I look in the mirror and for those 5 minutes I only think on shapes, and even though I am sitting at the same desk every day, looking at the same mirror and the same face, it is different every time. The skin tone, the darker sharper shades if it is sunny, silkier if it is cloudy. 

It is a diary in images, that despite they are the same they are different. They reflect how I feel that morning, the news I listened to the day before, the number of people we have lost and the ones we will have to say goodbye. The tough times many people is going through due to the lack of employment and money, the ones that are now richer than before thanks to this pandemic. Less than five minutes a day is a long time when you stop thinking and just look seeing.

I have edited a couple of videos already and I used Lara Bello's music, singer and songwriter from Spain that lives in NY and with her sweet melodies moves my brush.

La cuarentena empezó en España un par de semanas antes que en Nueva York. Toda mi familia sigue en la península, mientras yo me defiendo como puedo al otro lado del océano. Con la preocupación de si la familia estará bien y los amigos, y sus hijos… empecé dibujando una hoja para colorear al día y a colgarla en mi web. Esto funcionó de momento para ayudarme a lidiar con la preocupación y sentirme que estaba haciendo algo útil con mi arte.
A la semana siguiente me sentía con ganas de llevar un diario además de ofrecer mis ilustraciones de manera gratuita. Yo no soy muy de escribir, pero si de producir imágenes que cuentan historias. Con este precepto empecé a crear autorretratos nada más levantarme como sistema de meditación, de poner mi mente en algo diferente a lo que estamos viviendo.
 
Me levanto, me visto, preparo la tinta que voy a usar ese día y pongo el teléfono a grabar. Durante esos minutos no pienso, sólo miro el reflejo de la imagen que veo en el espejo y la plasmo en un papel. Miro los claroscuros que proyectan mis facciones en mi cara que, aunque sentada en el mismo escritorio, mirando a la misma ventana, cada día son diferentes. Los tonos de la piel, las sombras más agudas cuando hace sol, más aterciopeladas cuando está nublado.
 
Es un diario de imágenes que a pesar de ser la misma, son diferentes. Reflejan los acontecimientos, las noticias, los que nos han dejado para pasar a engrosar los números de las gráficas de los telediarios. Proyectan las penurias que pasan algunas familias debido a las pérdidas de empleo y sueldo, los que en cambio se han hecho ricos a costa de las desgracias ajenas. Menos de cinco minutos al día dan mucho de si cuando hacemos un autorretrato. Cuando dejamos de pensar por un rato y sólo miramos viendo.
 
Ya he editado dos videos con dos semanas de retratos cada uno, con música de Lara Bello, cantante granadina afincada en Nueva York, que con su voz dulce y melodías suaves acompañan mi pincel.

From Studio Q I decided to create a quick self portrait a day. Using mostly ink or watercolor I'll be sketching myself in less than 5 min.
Many years ago, when I was a college student I used to paint many self portraits, This is an extended practice between artists because you always have yourself as a model, You don't complain or move and it's an easy way to practice your skills.
​I am not looking for perfect portraits or beautiful faces, just a couple of minutes of letting my hand go and try to replicate how I feel each day.

Here you go!