This is a slideshow of all the images contained in my 'collection' gallery.
Just scroll down to view them individually and
to read the descriptions.

This piece is quite different from my usual work and I am aware
that it may seem startling. Too sweetish, too romantic.
Too corny?
My working process here was complex and contradictory, a real battle
between two conflicting sides of my character. It took me almost
three weeks to complete, not for its technical difficulties (there aren't any)
but for its emotional implications.
To make a long story short, you can read all about it in my
blog: ersimarina's workroom

It is yet another work using fabrics and collage. I'm more and more
into fabrics, it seems. I am actually considering taking an online
course on contemporary embroidery and I'll tell you all about it (in my blog)
if my plans come through.

the days we never had is about memories, longings and emotions.
About the ragged edges of certain experiences
and the bitter-sweet flavour of loss and absence. I meant it
to be more conceptual but the work had a mind of its own and I finally
had to give in to its needs. My conceptual needs had to step aside.

The background to the composition are two sheets of heavyweight
handmade paper stitched together with coarse twine.
The sheets are not meant to adjust perfectly to each other.
I hand-shredded the piece of white burlap and used a stretch of
cream-coloured threads and yarns to hold the
goose feather in place.
The white flowers are made with two layers of white cotton
(underneath) and interlining, hand-stitched together around the centre.
The words 'the days we never had' were hand-printed
on printweight paper that I than collaged on the background.
They are the conceptual representatives here,
the contemporary 'intrusion' in this otherwise romantic artwork.

The inkjet printed photograph of the thorns is there for the same reason.
Thorns as opposed to flowers, black and white as opposed
to soft, warm colours. The contradiction.

The actual artwork is 36 x 25 cms (14.4 x 10 inches) and it is mounted on
a 47 x 31 cms (19 x 12.3 inches) piece of quality handmade paper.

You can find it in my Etsy shop.

This is my latest original artwork. It is not the first time I include fabrics
and other textile elements in my compositions but lately I have been
developing an increasing interest in textile arts and
though this is really a mixed media piece, the main impulse that
gave birth to it was the textile element.

I am now officially on the lookout for old fabrics,
frayed and stained pieces of cloth, worn-out laces and ribbons, etc.
I love them and my cats do too! If only they could get
their claws on them!

At first glance, you could almost think that they did.
But it was me. I shredded threads out of the silk ribbon that became a tree
and also out of the white cotton gauze that covers the abstracted
'buildings' as if it were a thin layer of mist. There is something
deliberately naive about this composition and I wondered wether I should
post it to my page dedicated to the young.
I finally decided against it, because it's really a conceptual piece
disguised as an innocent depiction of a tree against an urban background.

You can read more about my work process and also view details
of the artwork in my blog: ersimarina's workroom

This artwork is 15 x 22 cms (6 x 8.8 inches) and it is hand-signed and dated on the back. You will find it in my Etsy shop: paintafeeling

The handwritten text creates a decorative motive for the background of this artwork.
'The flowers on the wall are blooming again and the words escape from the bottle.'

This is part of a short poem I wrote and the calligraphy is my own handwriting. It takes some effort to accept our handwriting as beautiful or at least interesting as an artistic element. Calligraphy, though, does not have to be traditional to convey shapes and rhythms that are pleasing to the eye. The curves and angles of the words are unique when they represent our personal way of drawing letters on paper, and the flowing lines are enticing to the viewer.

If you have taken a look at my other works, you may have noticed that I like feathers. I never wear them as brooches or handbands but I love using them in my art.

The subtle white leaves scattered over the background are cutouts from tracing paper and the single baby-blue leaf was painted with acrylic on handmade paper and hand-torn to create irregular edges.

I wrote the text using a dip pen and china ink on heavyweight handmade paper.

This artwork is 13.5 x 33 cms (5.4 x 13.2 inches) and it is hand-signed and dated on the back. You will find it in my Etsy shop: paintafeeling

Metal printer's typesets embossed by hand, hand-cut letter A, a tribute to writing. The feather stands for calligraphy and all handwritten texts with a pen.

I have always been interested -and involved with- literature and art, so this artwork is meant to combine both artistic expressions: letters and fine art resources. It was also a fascinating experiment. I embossed the letters A and B by hand and, since I don't have the necessary tools for it, I used a hammer to create the imprints! Apart from scaring my cats with the hammering, I achieved a soft embossing that delighted me :) I used graphite pencils to darken the letter shapes and create a stronger visual impact.

The white letter A is a cutout from heavyweight watercolour paper and it stands against a square made with tracing paper. Acid-free glue was used to paste the papers and the feather on acid-free handmade paper.

This original, one of a kind work is 12.5 x 21 cms (5 x 8.4 inches) and it is hand-signed and dated on the back. This is the first of a series of artworks evolving around the subject of art and the alphabet as a graphic element.

You will find it in my Etsy shop: paintafeeling

Revisiting one of my favourite styles of work, the use of a traditional
subject-matter - in this case, a still life - with a modern twist.
The clay pots here appear out of context, they are not set against
a conventional backdrop but simply painted on the white paper.

What interested me here were the shapes and colours,
that I brought up even more with the graphite-and-chalk grid
painted over them in the near middle of the composition.

The calligraphic text was hand-written with a special golden marker.
Don't try to make sense of the text, they are discontinuous fragments
of sentences acting more like a texture than comprehensible writing.

Watercolour, calligraphic marker, graphite and white chalk
on medium-weight, fine-grain watercolour paper
19 x 25 cms (7.6 x 10 inches)

ORIGINAL AVAILABE in my Etsy shop: paintafeeling

The third piece in my latest series.
It took me over a month to finish it, because I have been
terribly busy at work. Almost no time for my own
creative activities. Fortunately, things seem to have calmed down now.

I went for something more decorative this time
and I really had fun with it. That pack of handmade papers
really inspires me, it seems. (If you care to read the description
under the work underneath, you'll know what I'm talking about.)

This is also the first time I decided to include a little papercut
in my work (the birdie up there). Very simple and stylized, it's just an
initial experiment. If time allows, I'll do more.

Acrylics, acrylic ink and collage on handmade paper
15 x 41 cms (6 x 16.4 inches)

ORIGINAL AVAILABE in my Etsy shop: paintafeeling

This work belongs to the same series as 'there is divinity',
not for its content but for the format.
Some time ago I bought these gorgeous handmade papers
from a retired artist friend who never came around to using them.
And now I really enjoy using them myself. I like the
elongated shape and the soft texture.
I admit that these papers have contributed largely to
the inspiration that brought forth my two latest pieces.

This is a conceptual work with a humorous twist,
I hope it shows! We have scraps from an old telephone book
on the one hand and the famous 555 everybody uses in
films now on the other. Lost between the old and the new, the romantic
and the digital, the lists and the keyboards.

White acrylic, white chalk, graphite, raffia, tracing paper
and scraps from an old telephone book on handmade paper
15 x 50 cms (6 x 20 inches)

ORIGINAL AVAILABLE in my Etsy shop: paintafeeling

This is a piece that took me some time to finish.
I faced all kinds of difficulties and completing it coherently
became quite a challenge. Conceptual from the start, I had to be
very careful not to "step out" of my original intention
and the feeling that inevitably guided its construction.

This is also my first serious attempt at calligraphy,
a difficult task that added to the challenge. I wanted to create
a sober yet elegant work, stripped down of the superfluous
but still attractive to the eye -and the mind.
The laboriously hand-written text is a shortened quotation
from Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor and it says 'there is
divinity in odd'. The complete verse says ´there is divinity in
odd numbers' but numbers had nothing to do with
my intention here, so I left the word out.
Because we can safely state that there is divinity in the odd,
that which is not conventional, which challenges our
minds and habits and limits of tolerance.
Many cultures have considered odd people to be divine,
and odd, abnormal events have traditionally been
attributed to divine powers.

So there. My contribution to oddity.
The golden and turquoise colours have also traditionally
been associated to the divine and that's
their deeper reason for being here.

White acrylic, graphite, gold-painted coarse cotton rag
and glass on handmade paper
15 x 41 cms (6 x 16.4 inches)

ORIGINAL AVAILABLE in my Etsy shop: paintafeeling

The estudioversus of Zaragoza, Spain, is organizing a huge
group exhibition for the first weekend of December.
Hundreds of artists are expected to participate with around 1,500 works!
There is a blog about the event here: Postales desde el limbo.
I'm afraid these sites are only for Spanish-speaking visitors.
All profits from the sale of the originals will go to
Centro de Solidaridad - Proyecto Hombre in Zaragoza,
a Project dedicated to combat drug addiction.

The Group Exhibition is titled "Postcards from the Limbo"
and this is the first of the three pieces that I contribute to the event.
"Between Words and Fortune" means between logic and
the unexpected, between our efforts to
understand and express ourselves and the random influence
of luck. Good or bad :)

The words here are part of the background, that I printed on the
paper provided by the organizers of the event.
The door represents one of those passages that we can never
be sure where they will lead us.
And I don't think number 13 needs any explanation.

Graphite, pastel and collage on heavyweight paper.

ORIGINAL NOT AVAILABLE

My second piece for the "Postcards from the Limbo" event (see above).
In this case, the words are also part of the background
that I printed on the paper provided by the organizers. The original
work is made by pieces of wrapping paper and newspaper
painted over coarsely with white acrylic.
The letters "cor" are part of the word "corazon" that means
"heart" in Spanish. But Cupid's arrow did a pirouette
and flew away from this poor heart!
I think it's a realistic piece after all :)

Hand-writing and collage on heavyweight paper - 12,5 x 17,5 cms (5 x 7 inches).

ORIGINAL NOT AVAILABLE

My third and final piece for the "Postcards from the Limbo" event (see above).

The poem, typed in Spanish on a separate piece of paper,
is by François Villon, a 15th-century French poet
that is considered as one of the precursors of Charles Baudelaire!

The hand-written part says "between words and fortune" in Spanish.
The clover symbol is the characteristic sign on
the decks of playing cards. We play for fortune...
Or does fortune play us?

Acrylics, graphite and collage on heavyweight paper.

ORIGINAL NOT AVAILABLE

Eleonora di Toledo

Eleonora di Toledo was a Spanish noblewoman who lived in the sixteenth century. She is considered to be the first modern-style "first lady" in history. You can find more information about her in Wikipedia: Eleanor of Toledo

The original that served as a reference for this portrait is a painting by Agnolo Bronzino, an Italian Mannerist painter who depicted Eleonora more than once on his canvases. (Bronzino's work is royalty-free.)

I started out with a pencil and watercolour partial copy of the painting, primarily of the face, dress and necklace. I used tea-stained heavyweight watercolour paper to draw on, since I like the contrast between the abstract-looking stains and the classical portrait. I used a pen and india ink to fine-tune the details on the necklace and dress. As a final touch, I highlighted Elenora's cheeks rubbing on some white soft pastel.

ORIGINAL SOLD - Archival fine art prints available - 32 x 42 cms (12.8 x 16.8 inches)