My elder sister has a graduate in Fine Arts and her job has always been that of an artist and a craftswoman. My mother started painting when she was a kid and has practiced different types of visual arts, always as a hobby. My great-grandmother oil painted on large canvases. Until December 2018, when I stopped working in the Energy-Industrial sector, my profession was Engineering and Arts was just a side activity.
I was born with a big imagination and a brain that I cannot switch off. I always had a strong interest for anything that involved working with my hands: gardening, bricolage, cooking… I could write a never-ending list. But, believe or not, cooking can easily lead you to pottery. When I am working in a piece I get the same great feeling than when making a cake, and the same uncertainty about what will come as end result.
It was in 2005 in USA that I started doing pottery. I was doing an exchange program at the University of Miami and was able to choose a melting glass class in one semester and a thrown wheel pottery class in the second one. I really enjoyed both classes that had nothing to do with Engineering. So when I started working I joined some lessons in a municipal art centre called La Vidriera in my homeland, in the North of Spain. I loved it. Not only because of the pottery process itself, but also because of the freedom the teacher was giving us to experiment. Then I decided to go for further education in Paris and stopped doing pottery for many years.
The first serious painting I did was for my spouse. It was an isolated event as a birthday present in 2006. It still makes me laugh when I remember that one of his friends immediately spotted the painting in his apartment and extensively commented on how ugly it was. It has always amazed me how subjective art can be.
Pottery is not something you can do in a rented apartment. That was the reason I shifted into painting when I moved to The Netherlands; I was unable to find a pottery studio close by. I would still say that my painting style has a touch of pottery or at least sculpture, as I always incorporate thickeners and different materials into the acrylic paint. I have not stopped painting since those wet days at Lelystad, but I have alternated periods of more intense activity with slowdowns of several months.
In 2011 I moved to South Africa, where I spent almost five years between Pretoria and Johannesburg. During that period I did a number of paintings and I finally restarted with the pottery, which I was missing badly. At The Pottery Studio in Bryanston I had the chance to interact with many interesting South African artists. And I had Michelle Legg as a perfect instructor, who would share with me her knowledge and advice, encouraging me to freely experiment with the different techniques.
I moved to Milan in June 2015, but the moving was more chaotic than expected and I only re-started making artwork in March 2018. I was doing painting at home and ceramics at Bota Fogo, Isabella’s workshop in Isola neighbourhood. In March 2019 I won a special award at the Arte Laguna International Prize, the most renowned art contest in Italy.
At the end of 2020 I moved to Jouques, in the South of France. I have registered as a professional artist at the Maison des Artistes, and I have finally created my own workshop. If you are interested in my work I invite you to follow my progress though my Instagram account. In case you are around my area, I would be very happy to receive you at my workshop. Just contact me via the form at the Home page to fix an appointment!
Marina ÓÁZ 