About this artwork

When I saw the image from the encyclopedia, I thought it suited my painting style, because of the tones, the possibility of making layers and to play a bit with the flow of the ink. Then I searched about the encyclopedia page and what it referred to. I found it curious, because referring to a castle it is not the main focus of the image, in it we can see the castle surroundings and roofs. Small roofs of simple houses and a big castle from a rich family. It led me to think about social differences and inequality. In my painting I kept the main tree, which is the same for everyone, a tree in nature that doesn’t look at social classes to grow and live. A tree that gives flowers and fruits and whose leaf falls to everyone equally regardless of where they were born. Nature is the same for everyone. In the colors I chose to put gold in the castle to represent the upper layers of society. The river is blue and silver because just like the tree it is the same for everyone. Everyone can bathe in the river and drink from its water, everyone can rest in the shade of the tree…

About Marta

I am a psychologist and art-psychotherapist who in times of confinement found herself within 4 walls and with some free time. So I decided through videos and tutorials and a lot of research, to learn a rare painting technique, painting with alcohol ink. I created an Instagram page called @alento.arte and gave wings to creativity. Alento is a portuguese word which represents courage, artistic inspiration and heart-warming. It is what moves us towards achieving something and one of the strengths for creativity.
I find in creativity some heart-warming. I also use creativity and art in my practice as an art-psychotherapist. Art can reveal our inner world and can lead to insights or be a good friend when we feel alone. The flow during the creative process is transformative for me and helps me to organize ideas and feelings. The final result is always a surprise because this technique doesn’t allow a lot of control during the creation and it can be really interesting to find out what we will have at the end. Also because it’s abstract art, we can see whatever we want to see or whatever we feel at the moment can be seen in the artwork. Abstract art leads to subjectivity and subjectivity is the mirror of ourselves.

Link to Marta’s Art Aviso profile HERE

Marta was provided with the following page from Newnes’ Pictorial Knowledge Encyclopedia:

Volume 2
The Romance of History
The Home of Englands Sovereigns