Christal Rice Cooper
SCRIPTED
INTERVIEW:
Painter
Francisca “Paquita” Esteve Barranca
1.
Birthdate and
birthplace?
August
17, 1947
Barcelona
(Spain)
2.
Education history?
Holy
Trinity (Santísima Trinidad), Catholic religious school. All grades and BA. In
Barcelona.
3. Career
history?
Escuela
de Artes Aplicadas Massana (Fine Arts School.) In Barcelona. Interior Design and Painting
Techniques.
I
taught Art at a University in China where my husband was teaching.
4.
Describe your
childhood and how it affected you as an artist?
I
always loved design and drawing. My teachers and family encouraged me, but also
they wanted me to study something more productive than art. But I went to art
school anyway.
5.
What is your
first experience of drawing?
Very
early, drawing in our school notebooks was forbidden by the nuns, but one young
and very sweet nun allowed me. She made an exception. Then I won some award
there, which was important to me as a child. Unfortunately I do not have any of
my drawings from that time. Later I moved from Spain to Mexico. In the move, I
lost all of my belongings.
6.
Your first
experience of interior design?
During
the time I was at the School of Art, I was working with designers and
decorators and getting experience. Then, when studies finished, I had my own
design company in Barcelona. Luckily Barcelona is a very modern city, and
because it was so modern, I didn’t have trouble finding work in interior
design. Mexico City, however, was very different. (There isn’t really a market
for interior design there.) It was my way of making money and I could paint
without being in a hurry. I lived in
Mexico City for 30 years until I married Marlon.
7.
Who are some
artists/interior designers that inspire you?
I
liked several designers that had a certain simplicity and elegance in common.
Always, Japanese culture inspired me, especially in its aesthetic balance. So I
was thrilled two years ago when my husband and I traveled to Tokyo and
Kyoto.
About
painters, my preference is the impressionist style (Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van
Gogh, Gauguin…. Also surrealism: Remedios Varo, Dali, although I myself don’t
feel like I have the ability to be minimalist. I seem to be drawn to the
realistic and detailed.
Thanks
to my husband, Marlon Fick, I have been learning about American artists: Edward
Hopper and Andrew Wyeth among others. I would like to be closer to that level
of simplicity—a simplicity that’s achieved through tremendous struggle.
9.
What is your
day-to-day routine like when it comes to your art form?
I
usually have several projects going on at the same time. Also, for years I only
used oil, but I recently changed to acrylic, and now I’m experimenting again
with pastel and pencil.
I have never tried painting for an exhibition, (maybe I
will do one some day), rather I paint for myself, my friends, or my husband, our
families. as long as they sincerely express a liking for the work. Someone gave
me good advice. "Do not give anyone
a painting if the person doesn’t ask. This can make them feel awkward… He or she
will not know where to hang it without offending you… if they do not like it."
Photo 1
Paquita in her sunroom
in Mexico
Photo 2
Painting Green Thumb
Photo 3
Charcoal painting Joan, 1972
Photo 4
Pencil drawing Isa, 1972
Photo 5a
Poster in Chia of
Paquita’s art activities at Wenzhou Kean University
Photo 5b and 5c
Paquita’s students in
China
Photo 6
Photo 6
Painting Chinese Girl and Lighthouse
“The curiosity of this painting is that I was painting a
seascape, and the landscape in front of me in reality was actually of mountains
ad a river.”
Photo 7
Painting Translucent Tulips
“I went back to the primary colors for this and oversized everything. I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I like
the idea of a translucent flower.”
Photo 8
Paquita and Marlon at
the Government Awards Banquet in China.
Photo 9
Painting Marlon’s World
“Marlon has everything he loves in one place after several
years. I painted his world without walls
because his imagination is boundless.”
Photo 10
Painting Morning Coffee
in the Tetons: Portrait of My Husband
Photo 11
Painting Full Moon
“This is only a study which I did of the view from our front
door I the Rockies of Colorado.”
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