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I recently presented new paintings symbolising spring and summer, done in acrylics in an abstract impressionist style. They are painted in a technique based on the motto "let nature do my art work!", meaning the painting process is very intuitive, without any part of the rational brain involved, and leaving most room to random. Sometimes the results are amazing, if you are able and ready to give much freedom to your fantasy.
Here are the first three bird paintings done in that technique. I love them. They show very well, I feel, the lightness, sublimity and fragility of birds...

I love winter, I love snow and I love winter sports. A bit of a pity considering that I am living in a desert, or at least close to a desert.

I have done some winter sport paintings uring my artist career, in different styles and techniques, on paper and canvas, and even some digital ones. My favourite technique though is the free one, where I get my inspiration from a wild background painted in gouache or acrylics, the result of some natural organic process. Then the characters suddenly appear, more or less suddenly, as the result of some fantasy effort.


It can be very challenging, and sometimes it does not work at all, nothing happens. But when it works, I do love what is coming out of that creative process, it always looks very personal and free.

I have recently returned (last week of October 2014) from a painting trip to Budapest, and have made already some blog posts about motifs from Budapest, such as beautiful houses, churches, etc. Today I want to show you the most famous "ruin bar" from Budapest.

"... Ruin bars are all the rage in Budapest and have been around for 10 years since the founding of Szimpla Kert, the mecca of all ruin bars. These bars are built in Budapest’s old District VII neighborhood (the old Jewish quarter) in the ruins of abandoned buildings, stores, or lots. This neighborhood was left to decay after World War II, so it was a perfect place to develop an underground bar scene. (Not so underground anymore, though.) From outside, these bars look like normal homes... "

These words are taken from the site Nomadic Matt. As I went to Budapest, I knew nothing about the ruin bars, and I heard from their existence just searching for something else on the net. Unfortunately I had no time left then to visit them at night, I had only one day left and had already planned to visit the Jewish quarter that day. So I visited the most famous of the these bars, "Szimpla Kert" in the morning but unfortunately, there was hardly anybody in there. I will have to go back there one day!

Anyway, I had at least peace to sketch some of the amazing motifs and crazy decoration. And as I came back home, I had the idea to put inside this bar some famous female characters from famous artists.

See and read more about the famous girls in the ruin bars from Budapest in my main blog.

I have recently returned (last week of October 2014) from a painting trip to Budapest, and have made already two blog posts about motifs from Budapest, such as beautiful houses, churches, etc. Today I want to show you, viewed with my eyes and painted with my hand, some beautiful cars from Budapest.

I have seen following vintage car (in fact, it was a taxi I think) on the square next to Chain Bridge (if I remember well!). The scene was wonderful, it had been a wonderful day and the sun was just going do and bathed the square in a warm golden breathtaking light. The car standing there had more than one admirer!

See and read more about the beautiful cars from Budapest in my main blog.

I have recently returned (last week of October 2014) from a painting trip to Budapest, and I am truly overwhelmed! I have already published in a previous blog post some travel paintings I did there, rendering my first impressions and emotions in front of beautiful motifs from the street where we had rented a flat.

Today we will walk closer to the town centre... and get more and more impressed! The first thing I wanted to do was to see the Danube. The following sketch was my first sight of it in Budapest (besides the place where the Danube starts, somewhere between Germany and Switzerland) and I felt very emotional about it. To me, the Danube is a kind of mystic river, my head is full of romantic ideas and fantasies about it...

See and read more about my painting trip to Budapest in my main blog.

I have recently returned (last week of October 2014) from a painting trip to Budapest, and I am truly overwhelmed! We had spent before some wonderful days in Bergamo, in Lombardy, in the North of Italy, and flew from there to Budapest. It was the 25th of October, a sunny day in Bergamo and our plane to Budapest left around Midday. I can't tell you how excited I was! I had heard such great things about Budapest, and seen even greater art! I was a bit scared by the idea of "cold", being no more used to dealing with it in our Andalusia...

The people we had rented the flat from, picked us up at the airport, and first impressions were that there was a good vibe emanating from Hungarian folk. The guy was nice, open, spoke good English, and made us feel very comfortable from the beginning. And the flat, not far from the very centre of Budapest, was a little beauty, totally renovated at the top of a typical old Hungarian building. We loved it and felt at home at once, one could not think of a better start for our Budapest stay.

On the Sunday we started exploring the town, and walked to the centre. It was cold and grey (I was hoping for some snow, but none came down ), so all this Budapest beauty did not stand in the best light. But as soon as I left our flat I was overwhelmed by the beauty of some of the houses standing in our street. Here is one of them...

See and read more about our street in Budapest in my main blog.

I have just come back (October 2014) from a painting trip to Bergamo, a beautiful town in Lombardy in Italy. I have recently published paintings from the upper and the lower town, here are some from a wonderful little park I visited in the lower town.

I found that park per accident, as I was on my way from the flat I had rented in Bergamo to the train station. I adored it, it was really peaceful and idyllic. I could not resist, once more, to paint the local swans... I love to paint birds, and swans are so gracious, at least as long as they are swimming on the water... outside the water, they look a bit clumsy sometimes... and a bit dangerous when they come closer! In the park, the scene was wonderful with the colours of autumn and the blue sky reflecting in the water...

See and read more about the park in Bergamo in my main blog.

If you follow me a bit along my paintings trips, you will know that I recently was in Bergamo with my partner, the English rock musician Kev Moore. I have published here some of my artworks from Bergamo, and wrote about my experiences in that wonderful town. In Wanderarti, "where art and travel collide", you can read a travelogue about Bergamo from the perspective of Kev.

Thank you, Lizzie, for the opportunity you give us all, travel artists and writers, and for the wonderful work you are doing in Wanderarti!

See and read more about our trip to Bergamo in Wanderarti.

When I paint, I generally prefer to have silence around me. Sometimes I play music, but not often. And when I do so, I need it to be only background music.

But last week, thinking about how much time I spend painting, and wondering if my brain is really at full capacity when I do so (you know, thinking of preventing Alzheimers and stuff like that... ) I decided to try to listen to an audio book while I was painting. And see... it worked!!! The wonderful thing being that in fact, the book listening helped me to focus on the painting, and vice-versa, the painting helped me to focus on the listening. It really was a revelation to me, and while I was painting and listening to my book, I felt an immense peace within myself, like never before...

The book I was listening to was "Effi Briest", by German author Theodor Fontane, a classic... I have just finished it and enjoyed it very much. I love the German language, it is so rich and offers so many possibilities and nuances, but unfortunately I have no occasion to practice or hear it nowadays. So this was a big plus too!

I have just come back (October 2014) from a painting trip to Bergamo, a beautiful town in Lombardy in Italy. In fact I was on my way to Budapest, but made a longer break there to visit and paint the town.

Bergamo is divided into two parts, the lower and the upper town. I have recently published paintings from the lower town, today we'll go up to the "Citta Alta".

I guess most artists, when they are Italy, paint the amazing Italian buildings and monuments. I do it too sometimes, but they are not my favourite subject. I enjoy more painting still lives, inspired by shop windows, restaurants, cafe decorations, etc... I said it often, they are a feast for my eyes and all my other senses too.

See and read more about the feast in Bergamo in my main blog.

I have just come back (October 2014) from a painting trip to Bergamo, a beautiful town in Lombardy in Italy. In fact I was on my way to Budapest, but made a longer break there to visit and paint the town.

Bergamo is divided into two parts, the lower town, which is also the more modern, and the upper town, "citta alta", which is the older part of the town and which one can access by a funicular. A fun ride by the way!

We visited the old town on the first day, but we have a wonderful walk through the lower town, through characterful places which are not that modern yet...

See and read more about the still life in Bergamo in my main blog.

I have just come back (October 2014) from a painting trip to Bergamo, a beautiful town in Lombardy in Italy. In fact I was on my way to Budapest, but made a longer break there to visit and paint the town.

And as often the case is, I was charmed by the shop windows, and could not resist painting some still life inspired by them. Italians are so good at decorating their shops, they make you want to buy everything!

See and read more about the still life in Bergamo in my main blog.

Today I want to present to you my last painting on commission. I am not a big fan of paintings on commission, as there is always quite a risk, some kind of stress and above all, it is always connected to some restriction of freedom, which is my worst enemy. But a commission is also a challenge, and when the client is happy, the emotional reward for me is much bigger than by any other sales.

Anyway, just before Christmas, I was contacted by a professional in the Spanish Cycling World, asking me to make some cycling and other sports paintings on commission. Here is the first one, which I just finished.

In this special case I am very happy about the commission, for 2 very important reasons:

Firstly, I love sport, and I love to paint sport. I have always wanted to make some sports paintings, did some in the past but in watercolour and gouache on paper. But I wanted to do some work on canvas, just could not find the time so far, or at least it was not always on top of my priorities. This commission is a wonderful occasion to start.

Secondly, concerning cycling, I have a special emotional relationship to this sport. As I was a child and we were still living in the French Pyrenees where I was born, we used to go and see the Tour de France when they were passing in the Tourmalet and other mountain passes. And it was always a big party. Painting that guy racing through the canvas really put took me back to that time, and in fact, I felt like going there again...

one more dream on my long list of dreams of places to visit and events to attend!

Today is “El Dia de Los Reyes Magos”, The Three Kings day. A very important day here in Spain. As far as I am aware even more important than Christmas for the children: it is the day when they get presents and loads of sweeties. But to be totally honest, living quite as a recluse in my art world, I don’t really know what is happening outside there and even less between the Spanish walls… but I am quite sure that today is an important day here in Spain, the shops have been closed since yesterday afternoon, and more important than that, our indoor pool!

Yesterday we heard that they celebrate Kings Day’s Eve in a very special way in a fishing town about 5 kilometres away from where we live. Apparently, after nightfall, about 8PM, the Kings arrive to the town by sea, each one on an individual boat. When they have landed on the beach, they get transferred onto a float, and then roll through the town, throwing sweeties to all the kiddies on the road side. They say it is quite interesting to see.

I was tempted to go there, but then I remembered all these little naughty Spanish kids, who don’t stop screaming under my windows until they get what they want, and have no respect for anybody nor anything, You will say, it is not their fault, they are badly educated. But still, children are not silly, they know what they do. Even badly educated, this does not mean that they should not have an ounce of good sense and respect inside of them. They do know what they do, one can see it on their faces. So I thought, I don’t fancy seeing these little devils being rewarded for all their naughtinesses, and I boycotted the show!

Now the funny thing is that I misunderstood the show as they told us about it yesterday. I thought the kings arrive on the boats and take the children away!!!

Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin!

Isn’t it very EPI-FUNNY?!

Some words about the creation process of this piece.

It was originally a gouache painting of Nightfall, one from my watercolour/gouache series "Times of The Day" which have never been exhibited, neither in the real world nor on the net. I liked it a lot as it was, but somehow I had worked on so many similar ones these last few weeks, that I wanted to do something more out of it.

Who knows what inspired me to add the silhouette of the black cat behind the foreground field line!

It was certainly the result of an association in my brain, which is, according to my experience, the way how my creativity works. I won't enter into deep considerations about how the brain works, but I think I have found out that my own is very quick at creating association chains, and going from the first link of the chain to the last with lightning speed. Personally, I think that the basis of creativity is the ability to build these chains and to consciously use them.

Anyway, after the cat had arrived, I missed something in the foreground. Considering the expression of the cat's eyes, I thought it needed to be something which teases him, and stops him going across the landscape. I thought of course of a mouse, Too simple. Then of a bird. Too simple. And anyway, both too cruel. Kev Moore (http://mooremusic.biz) had the idea of the wool ball, and I loved it at once! This is the great thing when you live with another creative person, it always helps when you are stuck somewhere. Kevin inspired me on so many occasions already...

The title of the painting, "Unravelling", is from Kevin too!

Last year my partner Kev Moore and me were recommended by our friend Tony Stevens, a Magician/Comedian from the UK, to watch the American TV Show "Carnivale". Trusting Tony's good taste we did not hesitate for one second and ordered the complete DVD set.

Well, this was a revelation. The show of course was great, but more than anything I was instantaneously seduced by Michael J. Anderson portrayal of Samson.I cannot say exactly what it was, but I felt a deep personal story behind the actor, a great intelligence and sensitivity too. I started fantasizing about him somehow, eventually calling him "My imaginary Friend". You know, like some children do. Him being a great subject, he also inspired me artistically very much, so I thought that the only way I could make my imaginary friend a little more real was to make a portrait of him. Well, so I did, twice even. I presented the first portrait of him in my portraits blog (http://mikisportraits.com/2009/03/08/the-little-man-with-the-coffee-cup/), in brown and white pastel technique, holding a big mug, and smiling.

Here is the second one. In colours, but a little bit more serious. . And yet, the smile does not seem that far away again... dreaming about Space perhaps?

I can't describe how sad I was as the show was finished. It was for me as if a friend had died. luckily I had his portraits, but still...

Now comes the clue. A wonder has happened. my imaginary friend is back to me. And more than that: in a much less imaginary way

Not as Samson, but...
as Michael J. Anderson himself!

In Red Bubble, one of the sites where I sell prints of these portraits, I found a personal mail the other day, with somebody telling me

"Your portraits of me are quite excellent!"

I first did not understand at all who he was, and what it was about, didn't even understand which portraits this person was speaking about. I must say that I get many mails from strangers, and they are not always genuine. So my basic attitude is, at the beginning, to tread very carefully.

But gradually I found out that he was... Michael J Anderson himself!

I am sure you can imagine my joy!

Of course I sent him a mail back, in which I must really have come across like an hysteric fan. The funny thing being that I generally don't especially care about celebrities, they are for me like everybody else, no better, no worse. But Michael was not a celebrity for me, he was my imaginary friend. And to see him suddenly 'coming to life' and contacting me, was simply heaven!

I really want to thank him for his kindness, and his messages. I also deeply appreciate the fact that he did not moan about me selling prints of these portraits of him. As far as I know, he is entitled to forbid it. Instead of that, he put a link to my painting in his Facebook page, inviting his followers to buy a print.

Now, this is a very generous act!

When you start exhibiting your art on the net, and want to be successful all around the world, you have to work hard everyday. Publishing new paintings, writing new blogs posts, twitting, facebooking, etc. Unless of course you are already famous and already have millions of followers, which is not my case. Anyway, I don’t like fame, at least not when it becomes too obvious and followers become stalkers, kind of… following and being followed is in fact one of the many social jails I always tried to escape in my life.

Anyway, in the past, one of my active places on the net was Flickr. But caught on other platforms, I had stopped to publish for a long while. Yesterday, who knows why, after receiving one of these Flick mails from a new fan, I went there and checked the statistics, expecting to see the amount of daily visits reduced to null. But it was the contrary! What a strange thing the internet is! I have often noticed it, by sites and blogs, they always say that the search engines want you to publish new material all the time, but strangely enough, exactly in the time when I work much, the stats numbers go dramatically down! And when I do nothing, the numbers go up! This must be the result of some “Gravity”.

Well, this morning I checked the stars again, a little bit closer this time, and found out to my big surprise that half of my views in Flickr since the 29th of November, are focussed on ONE painting.

My portrait of Robbie Savage!!!!

Instead of an average of 1 view per day, it jumped to 250 views per day! Now, for the ignorant who still don’t know Robbie Savage, let me say that: he is one of the players of our Football Team “Derby County”

Like always my little brain was very curious to understand this sudden phenomena. So with these facts and numbers I went to Kev Moore, my partner and another ‘celebrity’ of Derby County and always aware of everything going on there. He explained to me what is going on with Robbie in the UK right now, and here it is, Kev Moore personally, telling you about Robbie Savage:

“Robbie’s star is rising right now as a result of a cumulation of many things, he has just passed his 600 league game milestone, he has been a high profile player for many years, via Man Utd, Leicester, Blackburn and Birmingham, and now of course Derby, where under Nigel Clough, he found himself resurrected in the twilight of his career. Enjoying the notoriety of being ‘the pantomime villain’ he was always the perfect candidate to have an autobiography ghostwritten, and this was recently released. Add to this Robbie’s dovetailing of his new media career with his impending retirement from the game proper, including appearances on BBC Radio and Television, and you see his profile spilling over into the non-football public. The icing on the cake is the huge following Robbie has garnered on Twitter. Simply put, he’s reaching more people than ever before and more people are talking about him, and searching for him on the net.”

And if you are interested in buying a Giclee print of this portrait, it is available in many different sizes and on different supports – Papers, canvasses, etc.) in my FAA Gallery. I am not sure though that I am allowed to sell these prints without Robbie’s permission, and if it is the case, I am sorry and will retract the painting from sale. I guess his agents will let me know. Anyway, this portrait is, I guess, much too romantic for most of the fans… which makes me want to make another one, depicting the wild Savage…

Another great product featuring Robbie Savage has been created in the family: “Fan Fayre for The Commons People”.
Kev Moore’s 12 track CD in homage to his club Derby County,
Featuring Commons People, Can’t let Savage go, The Derby Ram, Steve Bloomer’s (still) watching, We’ll always be the Derby, Nothinghamshire, and many more!
To purchase online at http://www.mikismart.com/CD_Fan_Fayre_for_the_Commons_People_-_Red_Dog_limited_Edition/p112123_228365.aspx

After The Memphis and New Orleans Nights, I'm now starting a new series about the Nashville Nights. All of these paintings are kind of artistic collages, putting together different elements I have seen in each of these towns during my 2 month USA trip through the Southern States in January/February 2010.
Most of them are done in a mixed technique starting with a first level in a classical technique (pastel, acrylics, gouache) and finished with digital art to reach some special effects and vibrancy.
The first Nashville nights paintings can be seen here in my FAA Gallery. Mainly featuring the Hard Rock Cafe and that wonderful emblematic building of the AT&T. I had never thought before that a skyscraper could be so beautiful, it really was a revelation.

My partner the English rock musician (lead singer, bass player and song writer) Kev Moore has written a whole album, "Blue Odyssey", 18 track CD, celebrating that trip. Please check his website (mooremusic.biz) if you are interested in more info and purchasing the CD.

By the way, if you want to exhibit your music/dance art in my new site www.paintingthemusic.com”, contact me please.

Some time ago, I presented in my main blog (mikiaboom.wordpress.com) a new artist, Emmanuel Baliyanga, alias “Barry”, originally from Rwanda but living in Cameroon now, for the sad reasons one can imagine…

We are in contact everyday, and I must say that Emmanuel amazes me more and more. He is such an accomplished artist, there is so much potential in him. I love the way he paints Africa, much sensitivity, love, sincerity and even humour are always present in his paintings.

We now have a very special relationship. I am his artistic “Godmother”, he is my “Godson”, and it is a wonderful feeling to be able to help such a great artist to promote his art around the world. I am also deeply touched by his humility and his thankfulness.. It is something which, I find, has become very rare, above all on the net…

Good luck, my dear Emmanuel, go on painting and showing your wonderful and fascinating Africa to the world.

Emmanuel's work is available here in FAA at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/emmanuel-baliyanga.html?tab=artwork

Just a short post to inform you that I have been featured in the December edition of the “The Sentinella”, a local magazine here in the Mojacar and Turre area. The magazine is available as well online as on paper.

For the cover the publishers have chosen my last Flamencoscape. And there is inside an article about me and my art.
www.mojacar.thesentinella.com

Yes, the Internet is wonderful, I will never say it often enough! I know, it contains many traps and dangers, but for me, at least, it is simply great!

One month ago I received the following mail:

“Dear Miki,

My name is ….. and I am volunteer for a free newspaper distributed in Costa Rica, Central America that has been created by and for the community with disability, senior citizens and the public in general.

For this months edition, we are celebrating the international day of the senior citizen on the 1st of October. We would like to ask permission to publish your fantastic artwork “Old couple in Lisbon Painting Portugal” to accompany our editorial for this months edition…”

I must say that I am extremely happy and proud that my painting has been chosen to celebrate this day. I have generally a very sweet heart for older people, they deeply move me, I don’t know why… perhaps because I had an intense relationship with both my grandmothers … and can’t stand the thought of them being alone and not cared for… and I hate people using their weakness to steal from and hurt them…

Anyway… It is a fantastic and exciting feeling to know that thanks to the internet, my painting has been published in a newspaper in Costa Rica on this wonderful occasion of celebrating our senior citizens! I received the newspaper by normal mail yesterday... funny to think that my old couple traveled from Portugal to Spain to Costa Rica and back to Spain!
If only this couple knew that they are famous in Costa Rica and probably in the whole world! (I love to dream...)

You can see that painting on the photo of the newspaper, but you can see it better and with my true colours at my place, I have added it there, as well as the short story of the painting.

I was just messing around in my bathroom-atelier, fighting against my inner enemies with my brushes and knives. As I finally lost the war, full of rage against myself I threw my weapons into the sink. A little bit later, when I had calmed down and wanted to wash them for the next fight, I was struck by the beauty of what I saw in the sink. I swear, I did not touch or add anything, it was exactly like that!

I guess I have more chance now to sell this photo than the paintings I did!

PS: as you see, the blood I lost in this war today was yellow, and not red!

Between the last of the work on the new gallery, I did two new paintings last week, especially for our local bakery, “The Pasty Shack”, where I have already hung some of my Coffee Cups Art 2 weeks ago. I wanted a funny theme connected with bread and pastry, but at the same time it should be a kind of advertising for my portraits. I had a look through the internet and found some delicious Black&White photos of Babies and Children Cooks, the ideal theme. I drew them, added some colors, and here they are:

Sorry, something went wrong with the photos, they are not quite well realized, and I can’t redo them now as my Baby Bakers already hang there close to my Coffee Cups.

Now, I don’t now how it is with the copyrights in this case. I don’t know if I have the right to sell them, having used the photos to make the paintings. I guess exhibiting is not a problem - but selling? I have decided not to sell them, at least for the moment, until I know better. So people, if you are the authors of these great photos or you are a lawyer/artist knowing about this kind of thing, and find this post here, please contact me and tell me my rights!

PS: Sorry for the title... my boyfriend, an English Rock Musician with very sensitive ears, means that it sounds a little bit rude... but I could not resist. it is so appropriate!

As I told you in my last post, the official opening of my new gallery with our first visitor Jackie from England, was a success. First of all it was a deep pleasure as this very intimate visit allowed us to know each other better, and this is perhaps the most important thing as Jackie seems to be a very nice lady.

I already said that she was amazed by my Eroscapes and Fantascapes and her eyes kept coming back to them. She fixed her eyes on the one above eventually, looked at it a long long time in silence and then said:

"it reminds me My George in Heaven..."

Jackie lost her husband George 6 months ago, as she told me, the big love of her life. She finds it very hard to live without him, above all in this flat here in Spain where they had such a lovely time.

"What is the painting called?"

she asked me...

Well, I always have trouble giving titles to my paintings, because I generally don't like to put words to them. This is the reason why I often ask Kevin to give me a title for them. But with the Eroscapes, We were so busy doing the gallery and exhibitions, we really had not time to bother about painting titles! At that point this painting was labelled in my computer with the unheavenly mathematical title

"The Eroscapes - #2 - Parallelism 2"

really nothing I could publicly reveal to Jackie...

But you know, in life, if you want to be successful, you can't doubt yourself and must grasp the right occasion at the right moment. I had a genial idea:

"Do you know what? I think I will call this painting

"George in Heaven"

Jackie was very touched and I was infinitely happy to have such a great title with such a touching story behind. Jackie looked at the painting for a good half an hour further, and at the end she said

"I can't leave George here.."

and she bought the painting!

Jackie was leaving the next day for England and she could not take George with her this time. George in Heaven will stay in my gallery hanging on my wall until Jackie comes back

So, it's done, we have officially launched my new gallery, inaugurating it with the visit of Jackie, a nice English lady living round the corner. She had noticed big activity in the last 2 weeks and wanted to see the gallery before she flew back to England, today.

Kevin hung the last few paintings, swept the floor and put out some cool Vino Rosado (the favourite English tipple in Spain)

She had a great look all around, even admiring my bullfight paintings although she does not like the bullfight itself, and was not scared to face with a big smile a herd of wild bulls running towards her...

Jackie stood a long time with us, We had an interesting conversation about my art and many other themes.

We found that in fact it was the best way to present this new gallery to the public, making personal invitations and spending one-on-one time to get to know each other. We all really appreciate the time spent together yesterday.

Jackie was especially attracted to my Fantascapes and Eroscapes, and kept going back to them. Finally she even decided to buy one, and we sealed the sale with an happy "Cheers!".

I will tell you in my next post which Eroscape she bought as I have a touching story to tell you about it.