ABOUT ME

Hi, my name is Maria Balcells. I come from Barcelona, Spain, the country of Dali and Picasso and I love art. The photo you see above is from the yacht haven in Barcelona. In there I spend many Sundays of my life sailing and following regattas until we moved to another town nearby Tarragona, latter we moved to Ibiza then back to Barcelona, Tarragona, Ibiza in between La Rochelle and finally to Mallorca were I meet my future husband, always nearby boats and sailing. No paintings at that time.

from spain to germany

MÜNSTER MY NEW HOMETOWN

On February 95 on an icy cold and snowy winter day, we landed in Münster and since then we live in here. Münster a friendly and beautiful town, full of bikes, students, and churches in North Westphalia in the middle west of Germany, not far away from Nederland’s completely different from the big town Barcelona. Big enough to have all kind of facilities and small enough to have the country and nice green landscapes some few steps out of the door. Münsterland is a very green flat country with few industries and lots of castles, perfect to make nice walks and bike tours.

THE BEGINNING OF A PASSION

Once in Germany, my life changed completely. I had to learn a new job, from a passionate job as a sail-maker to full-time housewife. We restored our old house, we build a new one and the years passed without taking knowledge of it. At home, there is always something to do but wanted something new, a hobby or similar and it was not me but my husband who found what would be for me my new passion. One day my husband came with a very particular present, a Watercolour painting course. Me? … Painting? … I had to smile. I do have what we call, to have to left hands! I went, to make him happy and discovered that my husband knows me better than myself, which is hard to accept but it is as it is -). Second do still love painting as I did when I was a child. I purchased some basic materials, subscribed to a local watercolour course and started painting and since then I do it as much as I can although I had some more or less big interruptions. Life comes as it comes but I do still paint and hope to continue painting for many years.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Sometimes I paint nonstop during days, and sometimes I take long breaks

As an artist, I paint with watercolour because they spontaneously merge themselves through their transparency and nature; this gives my pictures a natural character that goes very well with most of my motifs, such as fruits, vegetables and flowers. My landscapes and maritime motifs are more realistic because I try to keep and reflect their identity. I do not have a defined theme, but the light, the atmosphere and the seasons inspire me.

I get motivated just by watching what’s outside from my studio window. Simple motifs such as flowers or fruits are already a beautiful motive for painting. I also like to paint market scenes and streets. The movement of the wandering people, a lovely shop, a solitaire street but

I think that art can be found and enjoyed everywhere and that most of the people in the world cannot live without it. So, we do and live surrounded by art.

It is my everyday pleasure to open my eyes, look around and see it, and try to capture with my colours, brushes, and or camera one of these beauties going around.

My Garden Studio

Here is where I work. My studio is a nice and warm garden house that my husband builds for me. My dogs love it and from the window, I can see all the small birds around the house, the nice flowers and plants changing the colours with the seasons and in winter when it is cold outside a heater warms up the room so that I still being able to work on it.