Himantopus sp II

Himantopus sp -Process of creation-
Watercolour on paper, 42x29,7 cm.

Last October 2nd, I uploaded various watercolour sketches of some Common Stilts seen at the Navaseca Lagoon in Daimiel. Now I show you a graphite drawing of its process of creation.

If you click here, it redirects to the corresponding watercolour.

Orphans in Acebuche

Orphans in Acebuche,
Mixed media on wood, 126x46 cm.

In this work I experimented with textures; not only tactile ones- I stuck some sand and blades of grass and poured some oil drops on the wood- but also visual textures, by using different objects to apply the oil painting: clothes, paint rollers, paintbrushes...
I painted it for an exhibition commemorating the 10th anniversary of the toxic dumping in Aznalcóllar Mines. It was held at the `Pavilion for Future ´in Seville in 2008. The exhibition was organized by the Spanish Association of Artists for Nature.



Orphans in Acebuche (Detail)
Part of the process of creation, graphite pencil drawing.



Orphans in Acebuche(Detail)
Sample of textures



Orphans in Acebuche(Detail)

`Within´ the shadow I wrote the following text:

NATURAL DISASTER IN AZNALCÓLLAR

On Saturday, April 25th, 1998, at 3.20 a.m., at the head of nesting and breeding birds, the dike of a raft containing 8 hm3 of toxic waste broke. This waste came from the mine dedicated to iron pyrite ( FeS2) extraction which Boliden-Apirsa, a Swiss-capital enterprise, had in Aznalcóllar.

The toxic dumping, of about 4,5 hm3, was mainly composed of very low PH liquids-high acidity(3,6 hm3)- and sludge with high concentrations of heavy metals (0,9 hm3). It went directly into the River Agrio and, from this, quickly to the River Guadiamar, which flows into the Natural Reserve of Doñana.

The acid flood rushed down the rivers, along 40 km for sludge and 10 more for the liquids, which burst its banks to 400 metres wide. The sludge reached an average thickness of 8cm, though in some places it got to 1,5 metres.

The dumping occupied an area of 4402 hectares (10877,578 acres), directly affecting the 520 miners in the mining company and about 500 farmers of the river banks. Crops and cattle, worth about 10.8000.000 Euros, were destroyed.

The first interventions that were made at the zone were to build a retaining wall in the Guadiamar near Isla Mayor, and divert its course through a canal to the Guadalquivir for the sludge that drag the seasonal rains went towards the Atlantic Ocean instead of Doñana.

Unfortunately, the contaminated water bathed the area known as `El Lucio del Cangrejo´, an area of great richness of bird life, where many bird species were nesting, some of them endangered.

On April 29th , the group `Environmental Volunteers for Doñana´ began activities in situ.

About 720 eggs and 15 chicks were rescued. We removed about 23 complete nests. Eggs and chicks were taken to the Breeding in Captivity Centre in Acebuche-between El Rocío and Matalascañas- where they proceed to their incubation and breeding. Most eggs belonged to: Avocets -Recurvirostra avosetta-, Stilts – Himantopus sp (540), Purple Heron – Ardea Purpurea (95)-, Mallards- Anas platyrhynchos (65)-, Marbled ducks –Marmaronetta angustirostris (in a nest I found), Gull-billed Tern – Sterna nilotica-, Common Coot –Fulica atra-, Purple Swamp-hen –Porphyrio alleni-, and Little Bittern –Ixobrychus minutus.

Together with the eggs of avocets and stilts, a chick of Little Ringed Plover –Charadrius dubius- was born. Besides we had three chicks of Marsh Harrier –Circus aeruginosus.

We looked after the chicks from the first weeks of May until August of that year. I went almost every weekend and whenever I was able to on holidays.

Almost all the avocets and stilts were killed by a bacterium which caused them ulcers in their beaks. Some fellow volunteers forgot to put the antibiotic (which prevented the spread of parasites and viruses) in the water, . `Chiquito´, the Little Ringed Plover died, too, the same as the Marsh Harriet chicks. Everything happened in only three days.

We put them in the sun from 10 to 12, but, a day we forgot to take them away and the three died of sunstroke. In the end 80% of Purple Herons and anatidae survived. But only the chicks of six Marbled Duck, one Purple Swamp-hen, and one Little Bittern survived.

Ulysses

Ulysses
Felt-tip pen on paper, 42x29,7 cm.
Cover of the Literary Journal n. 49
La Solana, January 2006
Literary and Artistic Association `Pan de Trigo´

I thank Mr. Jesús Martínez Mira for allowing me to use his poem in my blog.

ULISES (Poem)

La noche es aún más noche,
más túnel de fantasmas en acecho,
desde que duermo sola.

He cubierto mis hombros con un chal de penumbra
y, descalza, he salido al balcón de las ausencias
porque aquí te recuerdo
mirando el ancho mar salpicado de gaviotas
en cada amanecer de luz y fuego.

Es el mismo balcón en que esperaba
tu vuelta, años atrás, cuando te hervía
la sangre joven y marchabas lejos,
a tu reino de fiebre y de placer,
tras el placer calmante de tu fiebre,
dejando en el espejo del pasillo
solamente una sombra difusa de tu imagen.

Te fuiste muchas veces y otras tantas
regresaste a mi lado: las paredes
festejaban tu voz
y yo jamás lanzaba los dardos del reproche.

En profundo silencio, me sentaba
a la orilla derecha de la luna
y tú, sobre mis muslos, desmayabas,
en silencio profundo, tu cansancio.

Rasgándole a la noche sus ángulos oscuros,
yo te daba cobijo
y pasaba mi mano por tu cuerpo
porque era la manera más segura
de sentirte de nuevo compartiendo
soledades conmigo
y de ahuyentarme el miedo
a perderte otra vez por las esquinas
de tus caprichos.

Poco a poco, el herrero de los años
fue forjando eslabones de hierro bien fundido
con los que encadenarte a este paisaje
de nuestras vidas
amasadas de amor y nostalgias.

Accediste y dejaste tu promesa
sobre el violeta vivo de mi falda,
y, de ahí en adelante, día y noche,
cada minuto,
permanecimos juntos.

Dormimos siembre bajo el mismo techo
y encima siempre de las mismas sábanas.

Compartimos los sueños imposibles
y la quieta impaciencia del insomnio.

Desde el sofá con flores mil veces escuchamos
la magia de Strawinsky
y otras mil veces vimos Casablanca.

Si en el punto de cruz me sumergía,
tú mirabas absorto la danza de la aguja
por la intrincada red del cañamazo
y, si tú meditabas en silencio,
yo, para no interrumpir tu paz, me zambullía
en las tranquilas aguas de tus ojos.

Recorrimos otoños, primaveras,
inviernos y veranos como estrellas
fugaces que dibujan
cuadros abstractos sobre oscuro lienzo.

Todo estaba perfecto, pero todo
saltó hecho añicos
igual que saltan
los trozos de cristal de cualquier copa
que, por descuido, se nos cae al suelo.

Me faltas otra vez y, ahora, me faltas
desde el último junio,
y estoy tan arrimada a la tristeza,
al dolor y a las lágrimas
porque sé que no tengo ya esperanza,
que ya no has de volver
ni siquiera quebrado como un gozne
que la humedad del alba haya oxidado.

Yo, para esto, no estaba preparada
y, aunque no lo supieras, es posible
que tú tampoco lo estuvieras para
vivir siempre a mi lado
restaurando presencias que, a veces, me quitaste.

¿Cómo, si no, se entiende tu partida?

¿Quién te otorgó licencia, dime, para matarte?

¿Por qué me hiciste
ver tu cuerpo estrellado en el asfalto,
Ulises, viejo amigo, viejo gato?

First Prize `Pedro Alonso Morgado´, 2005
La Palma del Condado, Huelva.

Jesús Martínez Mira from Castellón-Benicasim (Castellón)

Lynx (Lynx pardinus)

Lince -Lynx pardinus-, detail
Oil painting on wood, 72,5x53,5 cm.

One of my first good oil paintings. It was the image of the poster of my first individual exhibition. I gave it to my brother Niki.

Himantopus sp

Couple of Himantopus sp
Watercolour on paper, 42x29,7 cm.




















Himantopus sp
Watercolour on paper, 42x29,7 cm.

Studies made after a visit to the Navaseca Lagoon in Daimiel. It gets water from the village wastewater treatment plant and is home to the majority of bird life in the `battered´ National Park of Tablas de Daimiel.

Free School of Arts of Priego de Córdoba II

The living river
I have made this work as final project of the Bronze Casting Course taught by Mr. Luis M. García Cruz, Mrs. Marta Campos, Mr. José A. Aguilar and Mr. Venancio Blanco.
This work was awarded a grant and it will be part of the collection of the Municipal Foundation `Adolfo Lozano Sidro´ in Priego de Córdoba.




The living river (detail)
Bronze, about 30 cm3





` The living river´(Sketches)
Graphite pencil on paper, 42x29'7 cm









The living river
Bronze, about 30 cm3

Free School of Arts of Priego de Córdoba I

From 2 to 23 of this month of August I have been living in Priego de Córdoba in order to learn bronze casting techniques and making nude portraits under the supervision of Mr. Venancio Blanco, as part of the courses offered by the Municipal Foundation `Adolfo Lozano Sidro´ and its Free School of Fine Arts.



Ade, Nieves, Miguel, Anita, Lolita, Naranjo, Juanjo and Bego (Sau), Luis, Carmen and Marta, Dayse, Leonor, Irene, Bea, Antonio, Marta and Luis, José Antonio, Venancio… thanks for this month.



Andrés Naranjo, Professor at the Fine Arts Faculty in Seville. No doubt, the funniest person in the group.
I hope this course is the beginning of a friendship.



Here I am with my `little bird´(that was how my fellows called it)



Closing ceremony. During the same the prizewinners were appointed. I was awarded one of the scholarships and my fellow, Begoña Ortiz, was awarded the other one. The work I made will be part of the collection of the Municipal Foundation `Adolfo Lozano Sidro´ in Priego de Córdoba.





Everybody at work.



The teachers (among the best ones I´ve ever had): Mr. Venancio Blanco, Mr. José Antonio Aguilar, Mrs. Marta Campos and Mr. Luis García Cruz.



Enrique Caetano, Professor at the Fine Arts Faculty in Seville and one of my graduation classmates, made the speech: “El dibujo de apunte, hacia la formación plástica personal”.

With-without lynx

"With-without lynx"
Sketches, FreeHand Designs

During two short courses I attended at the School of Arts and Crafts `Antonio López´ in Tomelloso, I made a series of earthenware plates, joined to make up a mural which would show, in a visual way, the relationships among the Iberian lynx, rabbits, partridges, foxes and genets.



"With-without lynx":(Lynx plate)
Engobe on earthenware, 31x31 cm.



"With-without lynx":(Genet plate); process of creation
Engobe on earthenware, 31x31 cm (central); 16x31 cm (complementary)



"With-without lynx": (Rabbit plate); process of creation"
Engobe on earthenware, 31x31 cm (central); 16x31 cm (complementary)

After slicing the pottery paste, you capture the image on it; after that you make a cut on the marked lines which are covered with black engobe. You put it in the kiln (first firing). You finish by colouring the motifs you like and putting it in the kiln again (second firing).

Phoenicopterus ruber roseus (Greater Flamingo)

Phoenicopterus ruber roseus
Mixed media on metal, 21,5x13 cm.

When doing this engraving I was not very satisfied with it because of its simplicity, but it was one of the most admired when I exhibited it. Its simplicity attracted the public.
Whenever I start a work, I divide the empty space into ovals, ovoids and circles and place on them the different elements which make up the work. Then I add more and more details, but always leaving the original curves in order to show the process of creation.
It has not only an aesthetic sense, but also an expressive nuance which show the immediacy of the work and the fleetingness of animal watching.
On the other hand, I use rectangles, an essential element in all my works. It fulfils both a compositive role and a symbolic one; it represents the spatial limitation of nature.

Ixobrychus minutus (Little Bittern)

Ixobrychus minutus
Mixed media on metal, 29,5x22 cm.

Here I used the linear etching technique to create the image and an aquatint with sprinkled colophony resin to add some colour at the back, minimizing uniformity.

Chamaleo chamaleon (Common Chameleon)

Chamaleo chamaleon
Lithography, 38 x 18 cm.

Another lithography I made in my fifth year at Fine Arts for the subject of the same name. This technique is not very used nowadays as it is done with a special kind of limestone whose main quarry has been run out for years.
Now it is used a plate of stippled aluminium (a lot of cuts made in the form of a dot), stamped with an offset press.

Drawings and watercolours

I show you a selection of my first drawings and watercolours in the mid-90s. I hope you like them.



Fulica cristata (Red-knobbed Coot)
Watercolour, 29,7x42 cm.

I showed these works to Pablo Pereira by the time I was helping to save the birds after the toxic dumping in Aznalcóllar. He told me that healthy birds show uniform plumage, so uneven feathers were inadequate here.



Recurvirostra avosetta (Avocet),
Watercolour, 42x29,7 cm.

This one, apart from not having uniform plumage in the neck, has a bulky forehead and very curved beak. I intend painting this species again without making these errors.



Cuculus canorus (Common Cuckoo),
Watercolour, 29,7x42 cm.



Black-winged Stilt in its nest (Himantopus sp.),
Watercolour, 29,7x42 cm.

Pablo Pereira guided me in this watercolour. It shows uniform plumage, as he had previously indicated me, and he also told me the position of the species when incubating eggs. The idea came from a colleague of the group `Environmental Volunteers in Doñana´.



Carduelis carduelis (Goldfinch),
Colouring pencils, 29,7x42 cm.

I hope you like this entry. I want to send my regards to Pablo Pereira, an expert in animal morphology and artistic techniques. I consider him one of my masters. I remind him advising me to make life drawings or, in case I copied from a photograph, to have taken it myself. Since then, I have born it in mind.

Eliomys quercinus lusitanicus (Lusitanian Garden Dormouse)

Elyomis quercinus lusitanicus
Watercolour, 20 x 29,5 cm.

By the mid-90s I bought a watercolour box, two years before entering the Faculty of Fine Arts. This is one of the first works I can consider `good´.

Fulica atra (Common Coot)

Fulica atra
Mixed media on metal, 18,5 x 24 cm

The mould of this work was made in two stages. First, all the lines were marked and then we used the etching technique, which provides the work with colour and depth.

Dama dama (Fallow Deer)

Dama dama
Mixed media on metal, 26,5 x 33 cm

Another sample of etching engraving. Here I used texture to provide the back with more expressiveness. I used aquatint with sugar.
It´s a pity you cannot appreciate the quality of texture after scanning the image. That is one of the added merits of this engraving.