From exquisitely coloured landscapes to detailed birds, animals, flowers, castles and much more. Ángeles M. Pomata’s oil and watercolour paintings are elegant, beautifully created works of art.
In ‘Dalmatian Portrait’, Ángeles has captured the character of the dog and is exceptionally realized, creating artwork that seems photographic.
The depth and texture in ‘Solarized’, awash with colour, create a dreamlike, abstracted field that would be stunning on any wall.
You can view and purchase Ángeles’ artwork on her website: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/pomata.html
Ángeles is also on Twitter
Please, talk a little about where you are from and where you live now…
I grew up in Madrid, and there I studied psychology, the discipline to which I have devoted more than a decade of professional practice. When in 2007 I decided to retire, I moved to the coast, to Andalusia, to dedicate myself to writing. It was here, in my new home in the natural park of Cabo de Gata, where I wrote my first three books, and where I also started my career as a painter, stimulated by the beauty of the landscapes I saw every day.
What does art mean to you?
My conception of art is not too romantic. I consider art as a direct way of capturing reality. You grasp something, a definite aspect of the reality that you want to reflect, and you put all your craft at the service of that representation, which will not include additional explanations: a work of art must speak for itself.
How did you discover your love for artistic work?
I have always had artistic sensitivity, although professionally mine is a late vocation, and my love for works of art swelled when I started painting. I am very attracted to works of art because in them you can sometimes find more reality, more truth or more beauty than in everyday life. On the other hand, it is the realization of the possibilities of capture and expression that painting puts within your reach, of the immense wealth implicit in this trade, which has led me to love it.
What artistic education have you had?
My artistic education consists of observing art and spending over a decade painting almost full time every day. I have not had teachers, tutors or counselors of any kind: for better or for worse, my formation is absolutely self-taught.
What do you prefer, oil painting or watercolor, and why?
I appreciate the incomparable delicacy and precision that watercolor has to reflect the qualities of certain subjects, such as animals. However, my favorite medium is undoubtedly oil, for its depth, its strength and for the infinite possibilities, it offers both technically and as a representational art. I absolutely love oil.
How do you find inspiration?
The place where I live is a natural park that offers an incomparable environment, so it is often through direct observation. I see something that captures my interest and it starts buzzing in my head until I see what it is exactly, what its properties are until I get to identify what captivates me about the object. Other times I come to it thinking, and sometimes putting myself directly to work, as it happens with the abstract painting, in which I either let myself be carried away by the medium itself and the materials, starting only from a very vague idea, or else I start with a concept that I then try to represent.
What artists do you admire and why?
My training was as a clinical psychologist, and maybe that is why Velázquez seems to be insurmountable: to his technical expertise, he adds a capacity for psychological penetration that is unmatched. He seems to me, one of the great men in history, not only as a painter. I like Van Gogh a lot; I admire the strength of his expression, which is overwhelming, or Turner, for the emotion, he is able to impose in his scenes. One of my favorites is Sorolla, for his joy and his poignant treatment of light, and Singer Sargent, who is one of the best portrait painters in history. Another painter that I love is Pissarro, for the delicacy of his landscapes. I am also interested in many contemporary artists, and try to include whenever I can some of the work by my favorite artists on my Twitter account.
What success have you had in marketing and selling your work?
I think it’s something common among artists, but the truth is that the promotion and marketing is an aspect that I have not spent as much time as I should. The first years I was very focused on professionalizing my painting, and only after registering my Fine Art America account in 2013, I started to open my work to the public. Little by little I have been expanding the time I dedicate to the promotion, and since then I cannot complain. The last original, for example, was bought by an Australian couple who gave me great joy, and for the moment it is my painting that has traveled farthest.
What objectives and/or plans do you have for your work?
In the short term, I want to continue exploring the possibilities of the internet and expanding my online presence because I believe that it is in this field where the future lies. That’s why I recently opened my Twitter account, with which I am very happy, and I plan to open soon other selling channels for originals. My goal is to get to the general public, to people who like art but who don’t usually show up in the usual artistic circuit and in that sense, I am thinking about some ideas to see how to shape a broader and more accessible art market, but that will have to wait for a while. For now, I am content to continue enjoying this profession daily and growing as a painter. On the other hand, I have to finish editing my latest novel, which I already wrote. It will be over time when I can think of more ambitious projects.
Ángeles M. Pomata