María M. Mayorga: 2020

martes, 8 de diciembre de 2020

New Baby Steps that bring Joy

Let's face it, this year has been tough.

That's what you hear around and it's easy to repeat that. Either that or pretend like we live still in a normality. But when some doors close to you because of "the situation", you become again aware of the negativity ot it.

Well, I am not here to add some more negativity to that. It is a slow process to unwind and look things in another way, deeper, inwards.

I'm here to repeat myself and whoever needs it that if we focus on the small victories that we win day a day through this year we might come up with some light into this tunnel.

I'll be more precise:

When I have my downs I look into the path I've followed... or more likely paths. I have been wandering around looking into what it fit for me as a career. As a dream and purpose. Otherwise I cannot face it for a long time without getting anxiety.

1- Do you like your job?

I did, I tried to bring up the best of it. Either as a waitress or as a Restorer in a Furniture Workshop. I felt passionate for the first days, weeks or months. But in hindsight I was using alcohol or having extra time to exercise to fill up a busy day that overcame me.

2- You're now unnamployed. What are you gonna do?

First time not pannicking. Something will come out. I decided I wanted to keep pursuing my career on Restoration and I felt I needed to study hard to do an International Science Master in Restoration in the UVA in The Netherlands.

First Quarantine came. But I studied as much as I could. The stuff I learnt in school was a refreshment. But Chemistry was there at the end to trick me. Well, and the English certificate about how to pass an exam even though I could understand all the terms having lived almost 5 years in Ireland.

Let's get into the system requirements for an end I'm looking forward to.

3- The university announces your master will be on-line.

Bummer, that is the reason I came to this country to study a language and look for a better option.

Another door that is not available now according to my ideals... and the world safety.

4- Try your hobby that was always there. Make it your career. Is your path left. Try luck, there's no loosing here.

I put my stuff on-line that I could not sell in a exhibition for the same May 2020. I've got a bit of stock. Let's see what happens.

5- Open an on-line shop on Etsy.

After 2 weeks of creating my pics with Original Art and Prints I start selling the cheaper stuff.

The first purchase felt like a wave of happyness mixed with fear of not being prepared.

I just run to the first Art shop in town, figured out a nice way to wrap it and there it went! And other purchases came, same item, a sucess.

And it's the moment when you get a small hint of what this experience could be if you keep at it, with love and passion for what you love.

You will get better at it, perfection your way to get fancier but collecting a bit of money. Not much, just to start. Keep it simple. Don't get greedy but not sell for nothing your Art either. It will come.

6- The brainstorming keeps moving to create what it's really YOU.

Today I got a lovely message from a friend asking if I was selling the soaps I made for myself.

I just purchase moulds to perfectionate that look.

MORAL:

It's early, it's hard, it's slow. But is rewarding. And even if Negativity can take over sometimes we need to remind ourselves with the good feelings of purpose giving to people what you love the most. And it doesn't need to make you rich as long as it make you believe that you're in the right path. The truth one where you can be yourself with no anxiety.

Money will come to sustain you. But possessions won't make you happy.

That brainstorming of new ideas and dreams available to make true will.

Or it does for me. And I know it is more truth that going back to that fake live I had to live in order to sustain myself now.

As long as it works. It is a tough path, but it is for all of us in a situation like that, right?

So let's try to make the best out ot it.

The bestseller in my shop

You can take a look if you are interested. I keep creating new lovely and magical Art to make our reality a bit better. It does for me to create it, to talk about it. I hope it does for you to read it or adquire it.

Take care and keep positive :)

jueves, 8 de octubre de 2020

Works of Art: Aesthetic or Historical Value?

The afirmation that works of art mainly demand to be enjoyed aesthetically, might contradict our further use of it as a historical document of our past.

Works of art do offer us precious information. We can learn about the techniques, materials, style, culture and historical information – political, social and spiritual values among others -. But it is important to remember the need to stablish a certain priority regarding on the status on which we consider the object.

Repercussions of an Aesthetic Value

Giving importance to the aesthetic value would consequently have an effect on how it would be treated along time. Conservators, as the most important figures and responsabiles of heritage, might treat the work of art differently according to its value. If the item were to be treasured as the artist originally created it, experts should consider to respect the original as much as possible.

For example, given a piece of art with a percentage of losses up to 30%, it would be unrespectful to cover it in a way that imitates the artist’s job. Although with the trattegio technite for reintegration, the conservator would methodically cover both the visual illusion and an honest approach away from a copy. From a certain distance the eye would complete the lost message, revealed its different technique when seen closer.

If the piece had a higher percentage of losses, this technique still would respect the original. The added sections would moderate the dramatic view of the damage .

Repercussions of an Historical Value

«Battle of Trafalgar», Louis Philippe Crepin

On the other hand, if the same work of art were to be conservated as an item of historical value, the result might be completed faking the original. This approach of a permanent look-as-new should not be accepted.

At the end of the day, artists did not intend to create Art as an historical document but as a comission. If we take the case of the sketch «Study of Lion» by Rubens, the intention was to create notes as a mere analitical approach to a bigger piece of art.

Conclusion

To sum up, it is important to consider the values added by us, colored by our time. They are indeed an essencial award to Art, given the status that deserves in our time. Although in order to protect our heritage from the rages of time it’s needed to make sure that we value them in the correct order of priorities.

<Bibliografy: Introduction to The Eye's Caress: Looking, Appreciation, and Conoisseurship, from Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage. CGI.>

lunes, 5 de octubre de 2020

Experiences from Westival ’19 vs ’20

Original photo created&used for the Westport Music+Art Festival 2019 (Ireland). Not mine.

I was prepared to tell you good news today. I hoped I would have my Art pieces exhibited again this year in the Westport Art Festival ’20.

Today I got an e-mail with a negative response because of a huge amount of entries. Although, in times like these, it’s a positive thing seeing lots of people healing themselves through creation. That’s why I am so pleased to see this outcome despite the sour answer. I can’t wait to see what other artists in this town got out from this unusual experience.

Positivity against challenges

This quick turn into a more positive thinking was possible because of a simple fact: it was the time I enjoyed the most at creating for a specific purpose. The risk of failing is always there but it is what the experience gets from you that you will store in your memory.

«Deep Blue» at the Westival ’19 at McGing’s Pub

If I look back to last year and my contribution into the Westival ’19 I can see a huge difference. Ok, I felt thrilled by just developing old good ideas that spoke about myself to be seen under the same topic required.

What did it change then?

We might uncover a lot about ourselves through creation: some of us would run away from the dark side; others would get surprised after a healing wept. 2020 has been a huge example for me.

This year, when I approached the Open Call I was fearless. It felt more important and vital the fact of expressing myself entirely for the theme. In search of new ways to tell my experience. And I got this two pieces:

With the first work of art I went back to my favourite topic: Music. Because it’s one of the elements that I missed during this quarantine. The one that made me stay in Ireland.

The same way live music, as we knew it, turned into a luxury – a memory. It became a renewed concept that we could see on the news across the Globe. Music cheered us up on-line as a reminder to us that it wasn’t really gone.

The second piece talks about that home we forgot to go to. Nature calls us back giving us comfort when we needed the most. At least in my own experience. What it was a taboo to approach as an artist, now is an intriguing source to consider.

Let’s wrap up, shall we?

The moral of all this is the same guru’s phrase you will hear all around but that I consider more a truth every day: focus on the path and not the outcome. Put some energy out there as if you already got your dreams come true. And if all this sounds like bull***t for you, well, then value the courage you had to let yourself be creative using your genuine way and voice.

Even if you think you are still in search of it. It is the path. Through yourself to it as if everything is possible and better outcomes will come. I believe it. Will you give it a try?

«Sing» and myself at Westival ’19

jueves, 6 de agosto de 2020

Becoming a Low Waster

Back in Summer of the 2018 I had an awakening - call it an epiphany - after seeing a video that would travel the world into what it woud be called as the Zero Waste. For some people, seeing a turtle suffering because of a plastic straw stuch in its nostrils would mean nothing. Maybe some would react to open bird's bellies full of plactic items taken as food.

I have been recycling since I remember, and from the I started Art and Conservation School I got used to reuse items for other purposes as a clever way to save money, or just out of non-existence of specific items for the matter. I was used to reused jars at home as a way to store food or leftovers. I grew up seeing my grandmother using soap bars in the bathroom and "towel gloves" instead of body sponges. But I did not pay much more attention to the matter until that 2018 I realised that the problem was getting serious. It is really comfy to live in ignorance, right?

Well, the fact of me opening my eyes to the problem made me look closer to my waste plastic bin. Here in Ireland you pay for the recycling services a certain amount twice a year and they pick it up every other week so you can imagine the waste - and the smell if not clean properly - generated in the bins, always bigger than the food waste.

Focus, María, that you are wandering too much, how did you start the process after looking at your waste?

1. Reduced the single use plastics (plastic bags, banned the straws and the water bottles. I never really had coffee to go but I kept it in mind to be reduced)

2. Researched on-line and I made a list of the items that I could get instead of my plastic ones, not going crazy to get all of them but just once the current ones were about to be discarded. And I used what I had before investing my money. Let's be clear, some of the items are expensive but can last forever if well taken care of.

- Aluminium water bottle (Hot/Cold Beverage)

- Metal Tea Infuser

- Candles in glass jars to reuse

- Cloths intead of paper towels

- Wooden picks for laundry

- My first Conditioner Bar

- etc

3. Buy Local and in bulk to avoid package

I used to buy everything in the same supermarket. It was easy and handy, and I would get deals with lots of fruit and vegs that I had to rush to eat. Also, meat and fish would come packaged and with not more flavour.

But I wouldn't realise that until I tried the organic products in my local market every Saturday and Thursday.

Months after, a bulk shop openned in my area, with lots of eco-friendly goods to buy. I could not be more happy, even if the price was a bit higher but I would get exactly what I needed. No package involved.

4. DIY Recipes.

I am an artist and a conservator so I have pretty much learnt to make almost every product from scratch, combining elements to make the perfect cleaner, adhesive or pigment. This part of the journey was a real discovery and real fun to make.

Out of need, my sister and I started once a week to make after reasearch some of the recipes that would use the same main ingrediens:

- Deodorant

- Micelar Water or Make-up Remover

- Beeswas wraps

- Soap (one attempt)

- etc

5. Crafts/DIY/Reuse for daily use ittems.

I remember the items my granny used to have in the house and I could not get anymore in shops so I made it myself:

- Bread cloth bag out of a cotton cloth

- Grocery bag out a cotton dress

- etc

6. 2nd hand shops to ban Fast Fashion

Thrifting for cheap used things became a game when I went down town. I am luchy to have at least 4 charity shops that take any item not wanted and sell them for a tiny price. Even the options on-line would be more appealing than going to fast-fashion shops.

7. Minimalism

It came to a point that I realized I had too much stuff I would take from friends leaving the country. And not all of them were used. So once or twice a month in my cleaning routine I would start a decluttering habit that it would make get happier with the things I really wanted in my life.

8. Do not try to change all at once, enjoy the process of every new discovery and do what it is in your hands and according to your savings.

miércoles, 5 de agosto de 2020

Change of country, change of language // Cambio de país, cambio de idioma

Reinvention.

That is the main reason I moved to this magical country that is Ireland. And it is time to keep reinventing everything around me, all I create and use as a way of expresing myself. It was time to work on this blog that I left a bit unnatended to focus on other matters.

Now, blog posts will keep appearing, new sections created, showing my recent work and fields I focus on right now. You will see a more honest "myself", with nothing to hide (well, do not take it literally). But what I mean by that is that difficult times frame us and it is nonsense to pretend being somebody we are not. I believe this unexpected times are giving to people the chance to awake, showing their most authentic and vulnerable self. That is what I search for this site: an unique and authentic "myself".

I hope you like the new fresh start of this place, otherwise, well, I am grateful to have had you around.

Enjoy the journey. The adventure. The process.

Awakening

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reinvención.

Esa es la razón principal por la que vine a este mágico país que es Irlanda. Y ha llegado el momento de seguir reinventando todo lo que me rodea , todo lo que creo y uso como formas de expresión. Llegaba el momento de trabajar en este blog que dejé desatendido para centrarme en otros menesteres.

Ahora, nuevas entradas irán creandose y nuevas secciones que muestran mis creaciones y el camino en el que me encuentro ahora mismo. Veréis una "yo" más honesta, sin nada que esconder (bueno, tampoco os lo toméis a lo literal, nada de despelotes aquí). Lo que quiero decir con esto es que actualmente estamos rodeados por unas circunstancias inusuales, y es un sin-sentido y pérdida de tiempo pretender ser alguien que no somos. Quiero creer que estas nuevas circuntancias están trayendo un despertar en la gente, mostrando su naturaleza más auténtica y vulnerable. A cambio, otorgará conexiones reales y tiempo de calidad. A eso aspiro en este espacio: una "yo" única y auténtica.

Espero que os guste este nuevo comienzo en este espacio, y sino... bueno, fue un placer tenerte por aquí.

Disfruta del camino, la aventura, el proceso.

martes, 28 de julio de 2020

5 ways to work on Creativity during Quarantine

My first idea to calm myself through isolation was "Creativity will save us," and I am grateful to say that it keeps opening new doors for me. It inspired me to find alternative remedies to anxiety, so I made this group of resources that are helping me through this period. I hope they can inspire you as well, during this moment, and whenever you need them.

I will guide you through all these steps from my experience, but I am sure you can add your own point of view to these to resonate with your personality. So, sit back, relax, and stay with me.

1.Linked Minds

My roommate had an illustration vision in his mind. Once explained, I could picture it in my head, visualize it, and set the pen to work.

Even though inspiration came from one person's idea, we saw it uniquely, and our expression turned out totally different as you can see:

An annoying roommate is not required, though. (Ok, not annoying, so let's settle on inspiring.) Perhaps an exciting game could bring you inspiration if you lack any ideas. Words Generator.

Several websites can give you random words that you can choose to create as a group. What I did in the past with friends was to choose three words and join them in a sketch, timing us to work on it for 15min.

2. Draw your Dreams or Visions

During this time, I got myself into Meditation, and several times I'd have some strange visions when I closed my eyes. But instead of forgetting them, like a dream, I decided to draw them - even if they looked weird. Because I knew I could get something new and special out of that.

The trick for this experiment (with all of them really) is to keep an open mind. This can expand your creativity, the same way that Meditation is expanding my mind. I consider it a useful tool for creativity and relaxation if you are experiencing any period of stress and despair.

Well, at this point, we all are, aren't we? Let's give it a try, then!

3. Life Drawing

We are very fortunate in Ireland to leave our houses (always in a safe way) for a 2-5km walk around its beautiful parks, seaside, and forests.

While some other artists I know would get out of their house and take beautiful photos, I reconnected with my past experience of drawing from Nature. I wouldn't need much time: I went from a 30min sketch to 2h maximum.

So, I'd leave for a walk to admire my surroundings and find a spot where I could draw peacefully and calm myself. Sometimes, I could even let the sound of good music drive my creativity.

To make it a habit, I tried to make one drawing every day to improve my speed and technique. Let's take advantage of this lovely weather we are having and get something beautiful out of that!

4. Trip Folder

A trip folder could be an ongoing way of looking for sources of inspiration to keep you creative, especially when poor weather or low energy keeps you indoors.

I love traveling want to visit so many places but never find the time to draw while present. So, I do what anybody else would do: take a picture to store it in my mind. Sure, some of them get uploaded like photos to Instagram. Still, others pass through my personal filter to give them another point of view. None of us look at things the same way, but all of our perspectives are beautiful.

This is a new project, but it could lead to a lovely Collection of Places and awaken something special in me.

Would you be interested in creating your own Personal Trip Diary?

5. Rock creations

We all go through periods of blocks. Even if you are not a really creative person, I am sure you have gone through moments of despair or boredom during this isolation.

Well, I began wondering how I can keep from overthinking. Something new and straightforward but powerful for me. Instantly, I thought about a hobby my granny (R.I.P.) used to make in her spare time - decorative rock painting.

I inherited her rock, shell, or mineral collecting habit every time I go for a walk, trip, journey… anytime something catches my eye. So, I looked to my house full of them and selected the bigger ones to design mandalas, which I never try to create, believe it or not.

After a week, I made my first batch for my house.

Then, during one of my walks around my Irish town, I spotted a few rocks with hopeful messages to people during this period. Even this kind of "childish" game, in which you hide a rock already painted by children and post your finding online, is a beautiful and inventive way to cheer people up. This inspired me to create my second batch:

This period can bring beauty into this world, and I am happy to be part of it… even if I end up keeping them at home. Would you be part of this special and selfless initiative?

Conclusion: Nurture your Personal Space and Mind

I hope that you find this post interesting. There so many ways that can be done for this period. This is just my approach. Whatever you do, I'd recommend doing it to find peace through cleansing your personal space and mind.

That cleansing, I'd say, is the foundation for any creative and innovative project you choose to undertake.

And above all… do always enjoy the process.

See you in the next post!

Harry Potter Illustration 2020

2019 was the opposite of 2018 regarding or Art creation. The reason was easy: I was mostly a Conservador working for a company that would cover Ireland. You can see in detail this experience here.

But as soon as 2019 ended, new opportunities would wait for me. One of them was to plan an exhibition with my sister in a local Bookshop in town for Harry Potter's Day the 2nd of May. Of course, we all know the circumstances that framed this year so far, so as everything, the Exhibition got cancelled.

Nevertheless, I had the best excuse to work on landscapes again, which I did not do since those bookmarks I made of Seville as a present.

Finding the right setting and reason I can surprise myself with pieces like these:

What I learnt is that nothing is a waste of time because the experience will give you back moments of peace and challenge that it will a total reward. What is your opinion about it?

Self portraits 2018

Looking back I would say that 2018 was my most prolific year so far. I found so many topics and reasons to be inspired in order to "escape" of a job it did not bring me much of my passion.

What is beautiful of these two self-portraits is that they were "rescued" from discarded ideas for the Inktober 2017, as at the moment I thought they were too personal.

But in time, I ended up caring less for what people would think and I wanted to show a bit of myself through this personal pieces, which have become ones of my favourites.

I hope you like them!

Railway

Squared Mind

I must add this piece as well even it shows my back. What it's interesting of this one is that it was part of an on-line challenge to connect people around the globe through Art. The only rule to follow? No Music.

Well, this made the experience tough because I work and life always surrounded by music. It drives me throught whatever I do, it keeps me company. So you can imagine how badly I took this requirement.

What I did? I could not stop thinking about the experience that music makes me feel, I'd have in my mind the moment that music made me feel the most connected and overwhelmed. So I told a story of a night at work listening to a singer have a very intimate concert to people in town. I got so lucky to be part of that... I had to take that memory in this piece A3 size:

Feel the Music

Until the next post!

Avengers Series

At the time the summer of 2018 came I needed to go to my country for an important operation. The recovery needed to be there as well as I wasn't able to flight in at least a month after the surgery.

With that excuse, I had a lot of free time to make some new Art, and having the Avengers saga so present in my mind, it was time for me to portrait my favourite characters.

At first, I started it as a "one drawing a day", following Inktober way of creating in order to warm up the hand and improve the abilities to catch the likeness in a quick portrait. Well, I ended up liking some of them so much that I would spend two or three days until I thought they were done.

For a A5 size I think they are really hight standard. What do you reckon? :)

1. Dr. Strange

2. Loki

3. Spiderman

4. Gamora

5. Ironman

6. Scarlet Witch

7. Young Captain America

8. Captain America

9. Nebula

10. Starlord

11. Black Widow

12. Thor

Inktober 2018

After the discovery of the first year, I decided to try next with an approach of different lists containing Fairy Tales, Tarot, and Mithology. It was called "Once upon a time" and what I liked of this one is that despite the fact I couldn't finish it on time, I managed to involved a lot of people in this project.

I hope one day I can finish recreating the photos I took from this friends I encountered during my time in Westport. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy what I could get out of this lovely project and experience: