The Light Within
by Angeles M Pomata
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Dear Angeles, What do you care most about especially in the beginning of this New Year? 2018 was, in terms of painting, a year of change for me. For the first time, I began to actively seek ways to promote my work, in addition to uploading works to my Fine Art America webpage. The balance has been very positive, so I start this New Year with a lot of energy to consolidate and expand everything built on the previous year. I would like to be able to also take some time to write, although, realistically, I think it is the same as wanting the day to have 30 hours. |
Photo: courtesy of the artist |
Can you tell us more about your journey as a psychologist, as a self-taught writer and painter?
I started working as a psychologist in Madrid as soon as I graduated. After more than a decade of successful practice in the profession, I came to the conclusion that the time had come to make a professional change. The world was turning in a direction that, in my opinion, made it almost impossible to exercise my profession as I exercised it.
I knew that I could not continue with what I was doing, although I was not clear on what other activity I could devote myself to, because I had always believed that I would devote my entire life to psychology. That was my intention at least, so I took some time off to decide what to do. Then I started to write almost as a natural extension of my profession, and I started painting while taking a break from writing, as a manual activity, something to rest my mind on while writing my first book.
The fact is that little by little I was noticing that painting was absorbing my attention more and more. When out for a walk, I was looking at all the things I wanted to paint, which was almost everything around me, because I live in an incredible environment, with landscapes that invite reflection. I moved from Madrid to my current home precisely because of the serenity and candid beauty here. I didn’t have teachers or mentors then or now, nor do I know anyone from the art circles, or any painters or artists. But the activity was progressively captivating me and I realized that it was something important for me, something that suited me more than I could have ever known. After a while, I devoted more time to painting than to writing. I decided to give it a try to see if it could become a professional activity. That's how I opened my FAA account and here I am today.
Your paintings are colorful, full of light and inspired by nature. How do you describe your painting style and themes?
My painting style, the materials and the themes or the techniques I use, are based on my purpose which consists of reflecting aspects of reality that are not always evident. These aspects can be ideas or characteristics and, whether they are more or less elaborated concepts, I always intend them to be direct.
The difficult thing about my choices, which coincide as much in psychology as in writing or painting, is to have clarity of ideas in order to explain or represent a case, a concept, a feeling or an impression in clear and unequivocal terms.
For the most complex ideas, I prefer the narrative structure of a novel, which allows me to build plots that develop broader themes. When painting, I prefer to express sensations, feelings or concepts that sometimes are a result of a long process. But when it comes to representing them on the canvas, I steer away from complexity of the imagery. Every piece is intended to be a direct expression and to be self-explanatory.
I started working as a psychologist in Madrid as soon as I graduated. After more than a decade of successful practice in the profession, I came to the conclusion that the time had come to make a professional change. The world was turning in a direction that, in my opinion, made it almost impossible to exercise my profession as I exercised it.
I knew that I could not continue with what I was doing, although I was not clear on what other activity I could devote myself to, because I had always believed that I would devote my entire life to psychology. That was my intention at least, so I took some time off to decide what to do. Then I started to write almost as a natural extension of my profession, and I started painting while taking a break from writing, as a manual activity, something to rest my mind on while writing my first book.
The fact is that little by little I was noticing that painting was absorbing my attention more and more. When out for a walk, I was looking at all the things I wanted to paint, which was almost everything around me, because I live in an incredible environment, with landscapes that invite reflection. I moved from Madrid to my current home precisely because of the serenity and candid beauty here. I didn’t have teachers or mentors then or now, nor do I know anyone from the art circles, or any painters or artists. But the activity was progressively captivating me and I realized that it was something important for me, something that suited me more than I could have ever known. After a while, I devoted more time to painting than to writing. I decided to give it a try to see if it could become a professional activity. That's how I opened my FAA account and here I am today.
Your paintings are colorful, full of light and inspired by nature. How do you describe your painting style and themes?
My painting style, the materials and the themes or the techniques I use, are based on my purpose which consists of reflecting aspects of reality that are not always evident. These aspects can be ideas or characteristics and, whether they are more or less elaborated concepts, I always intend them to be direct.
The difficult thing about my choices, which coincide as much in psychology as in writing or painting, is to have clarity of ideas in order to explain or represent a case, a concept, a feeling or an impression in clear and unequivocal terms.
For the most complex ideas, I prefer the narrative structure of a novel, which allows me to build plots that develop broader themes. When painting, I prefer to express sensations, feelings or concepts that sometimes are a result of a long process. But when it comes to representing them on the canvas, I steer away from complexity of the imagery. Every piece is intended to be a direct expression and to be self-explanatory.
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One of our campaigns is #BeatTheBlues. It would be great if you shared with us how you #BeatTheBlues especially knowing your professional and artistic experience?
The best way to #BeatTheBlues is to see reality as it is.
This is not as simple as it seems, and I understand that for many people, it is the very events of their life that lead them to be sad, or to feel blue. However, those facts, or those data, are not all the facts, nor all the data, and when searching for the facts and true facts, all of them, a map of reality is configured in which there is always a way out.
This is not a made up sentence; it is a principle of reality: there is always a way out, even in the worst of circumstances. Knowing that this is the case is an important first step in order not to despair.
Do you have a favorite section of HocTok? Why?
I really like the presentation of the articles and the design of your magazine, in general. I think it is very elegant and attractive.
As for the sections, I like the offer of topics on your front page, but the section that I usually look is #What Matters, on the VIBES section, because although it is recent, the proposals surprised me and arouse my curiosity.
Where do you turn in search of inspiration?
Above all, to nature, which is an inexhaustible source of beauty. Although the truth is that the things that awaken my inspiration to paint are most unpredictable. In that sense, rather than me going towards them, I usually end up bumping into them, intentionally or not.
What are the best wishes for 2019?
I hope that the moral inversion that has been taking effect since the nineties onwards, which has accelerated a lot in the last ten or twelve years, and that lately is showing signs of remission, comes to an end once and for all, and things go back, so to speak, to their actual being. This latest period is being very hard for people who have been resisting this harmful influence for many years, and who have been paying a high price for their resistance. I hope that 2019 will be their year at last.
New days. New discoveries. What will you focus on in the coming days, weeks and months?
I like to plan my activities ahead of time. To, the first days of 2019 I have been trying to organize my year, even though I know from experience that unforeseen events are always to be considered. In the first weeks and months I will look for new ways of promoting my work. I will look how to open new channels that allow me to reach a wider audience.
For a complete artist profile, visit Angeles M Pomata's page on Fine Art America.
The best way to #BeatTheBlues is to see reality as it is.
This is not as simple as it seems, and I understand that for many people, it is the very events of their life that lead them to be sad, or to feel blue. However, those facts, or those data, are not all the facts, nor all the data, and when searching for the facts and true facts, all of them, a map of reality is configured in which there is always a way out.
This is not a made up sentence; it is a principle of reality: there is always a way out, even in the worst of circumstances. Knowing that this is the case is an important first step in order not to despair.
Do you have a favorite section of HocTok? Why?
I really like the presentation of the articles and the design of your magazine, in general. I think it is very elegant and attractive.
As for the sections, I like the offer of topics on your front page, but the section that I usually look is #What Matters, on the VIBES section, because although it is recent, the proposals surprised me and arouse my curiosity.
Where do you turn in search of inspiration?
Above all, to nature, which is an inexhaustible source of beauty. Although the truth is that the things that awaken my inspiration to paint are most unpredictable. In that sense, rather than me going towards them, I usually end up bumping into them, intentionally or not.
What are the best wishes for 2019?
I hope that the moral inversion that has been taking effect since the nineties onwards, which has accelerated a lot in the last ten or twelve years, and that lately is showing signs of remission, comes to an end once and for all, and things go back, so to speak, to their actual being. This latest period is being very hard for people who have been resisting this harmful influence for many years, and who have been paying a high price for their resistance. I hope that 2019 will be their year at last.
New days. New discoveries. What will you focus on in the coming days, weeks and months?
I like to plan my activities ahead of time. To, the first days of 2019 I have been trying to organize my year, even though I know from experience that unforeseen events are always to be considered. In the first weeks and months I will look for new ways of promoting my work. I will look how to open new channels that allow me to reach a wider audience.
For a complete artist profile, visit Angeles M Pomata's page on Fine Art America.