The Proposal
Dear Fran,
I have received a proposal to do a series of paintings dedicated to the Carmona Necropolis. What do you think?
Maybe these pages should be read by people with high English level and I won´t say why
Dis Manibus Sacrum
Dear Fran,
I just arrived from the Carmona Necropolis.
I have been taking some photos of those tombs where they allow you to enter, because I have in mind to make a series of paintings related to this archaeological site. At the end of the tour I also stopped at its small museum since I want to paint several still lifes with the objects that are exhibited there.
Intimacy in feminine
If you want to know me
completely, you have to know my garden, because my garden is my heart.
Hermann von Pückler-Muskau
Dear Fran,
I met Francisca not very long ago.
knowing that she had an exhibition planned,
I appeared at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Seville on the appointed day.
I have to clarify that on the afternoon of
the inauguration I was not able to fully enjoy her paintings; the number of
people in the room was such that I could not stand at the distance needed to
contemplate the images, especially the largest works.
But even so, the first thing my eyes saw
reminded me of some paintings I saw a few years ago in a book that our painting
teacher brought to class. Those images had, I don't know how to express it, a
subtle touch of Luc Tuymans. And I know I haven't been the only one who has
noticed it.
Secondly, the artist's paintings
transported me, I don't know why, to the American
Dream, to the movies of the 60s: families with their two-story houses, with
a garden, swimming pool, lawnmower and two cars in the garage. Husband who goes
to work in the city center and wife who stays doing ‘tasks typical of her sex’,
that is, cooking and taking care of the children.
And here Francisca's paintings delve into
the intimacy of these women to provide them with a way out of that golden
loneliness. It may seem silly, but one of the pieces reminded me of Mia Farrow!
Dear Fran, of all the inaugurations I have
attended – some more glamorous, others less – this has been the one that has
touched me the most. Neither short nor long, neither exultant nor bland.
Intimacy in the feminine is an
enriching experiment that we should experience more frequently. As was said in
the presentation, we should never confuse intimacy with identity, much less
with sexuality. The intimate, fortunately, embraces sexuality and identity and
makes us look inside ourselves, towards who we are.
A sincere, clean, delicate work.
Y. a.
Mary
Weekend in Pruna
What I like most about this small house is
its solarium and spending the night here for two days is the best gift they
could give me.
Godoy and his wife come here on vacation,
on weekens and when caring for their Little grandson allows.
The solarium (there are truly many hours
in which the sun is present) occupies the space that was previously the hayloft
and it´s amazing to be reading or writing, as I´m doing now, to look up and
watch a couple of vultures hover in circles above my head.
This time they wanted to go to the Algarve
and they offered me the possibility of spending a few days in the town.
Invitation that I had declined the previous times: it´s a shame that the house
is closed so you can enyoy it, they convinced me.
Yesterday, Saturday, I was wlaking with
binoculars along the Cascade path that leads to a stream that was loaded with wáter
from the mountains.
Dear Fran, you can get an idea of plants,
flowers and birds, always birds, that I could find: the blonde wheatear, the
Bonelli´s eagle, the acentor and countless trills among which I could recognize
the oriole and the nightingale, just by name the ones I hadn´t seen or head in
the longest time.
Y. a.
Mary
Chaos
and ether
Dear Fran,
If you pass near Morón de la Frontera you
should stop along the way and visit the exhibition of two young artists who
show their works at the Espacio Santa Clara.
One of them is Daniel Sánchez Palomo. He presents
paintings where the human body is the main protagonist and that the author
places in the center of classic constructions, such as ancient churches or
mysterious enclosures. Using blue, he offers us a vision of the characters that
blur in a mystical space. This artist has a perfect command of drawing women
and men.
I´ve been following Diego Lozano since I
started painting and I´ve met him at several inaugurations. Affable boy who
offers intimate contemplation of birds in the room. It was a refreshing
surprise to see how he has captured the difficult world of birds in a few
successful brushstrokes. These paintings range from those where the animal is
perfectly recognized to others that border on the abstract and only an eye
accustomed to observing nature can decipher.
You will have already understood that, due
to my love of birds and my effort to learn to paint, Diego's selection of works
attracted me irresistibly and for a long time.
It´s a style of painting that I´d like to
get closer to, but I´m afraid that will be very difficult.
Fran, I'm sending you some photos so you
can enjoy and encourage yourself to enter this space. It remains open until
April 28.
Y. a.
Mary
That other pain
This country welcomed me with open arms
many years ago when I had to flee the land where I was born and raised.
That is why what we are experiencing in
recent times hurts me. After forty years in Spain I think I have some right to express
my feelings.
All the people I have interacted with
since I arrived here, the señora I served until recently, the friendships I
have forged, Juani, the woman at the grocer´s, my painting teacher, my
colleagues... They have made me feel that I had my new home here, that I was
one more, that I could count on them; however, I am perplexed by the evolution
that society in general and politics in particular are having.
Dear Fran, I ask you: How can an
Autonomous President publicly call the president of the government a son of a
bitch and quedarse tan pancha? But the worst of all are those who laugh at
the insult and applaud her. How can a bully brothel bouncer become an advisor
and trusted man of an entire minister? How can the Catalan issue be dealt with
by deceiving citizens again and again? Why keep giving examples.
In this corner of the world they don't know what they have and they run
the risk of losing everything.
Y. a.
Mary