Page 18 - YGARTUA: Magnum Opus - volume one
P. 18
When you are influenced by
everything around you, whether
it is the people in the world,
their culture or nature itself–it
is emotional and personal.
It is these emotions that one tries My family and I have always travelled
to express–an inside view of your extensively and through out my life I
thoughts, your feelings and your ideas. I have been influenced by other cultures.
sketched, as a child, with my Mother, who My interest, no doubt, comes from
was also a painter. When we returned my Basque Heritage, the oldest white
to the Basque Country, Northern Spain, race of Europe. This influence has also
my Father’s birthplace, for the summer directed me to the varied subject matter
vacations, I used to work alongside of I seek out when living in other
her on location. I attended the Liverpool countries. In the early 70’s I started
School of art in England, specializing painting the North American Native,
in Gold and Silversmithing. I took life- I found strength and a passion of a race
study but I didn’t take Painting and it struggling for their identity similar to
wasn’t until I immigrated to Canada that the Basque People of northern Spain.
I changed direction and started making a These influences dominated my work for
living solely from my art in 1970. many years; even today I still feel a need
14
