I AM SANTIAGO ZARZOSA, A EUROPEAN ARTIST FROM SPAIN.
I am Santiago Zarzosa, a European artist from Spain. I was born in Valladolid (Castilla plains) and lived there for 10 years. Then, my family moved to the Mediterranean where I discovered a New World. New colors, new light and a different way of life.
The colors and views in Valladolid are similar to the plains in the USA. The predominant color of the fields is yellow from the harvesting of the wheat at the end of the summer. The winters were cold with snow. My childhood in Valladolid shifted in the summers were we spent a month in the Northwest region of Spain called Galicia (a region that it is reminiscent of the Celtic culture) in a beautiful village called SANJENJO. There, I became accustomed to lush, green nature as well as the furious and cold Atlantic Ocean. I enjoyed the fishing culture and shellfish that all my family enjoyed. My brothers and I went in little boats to hunt big crab that we later ate at home. It was wonderful.
Then, the rest of the summer we went to a hidden valley called COMPUERTO, were high mountains surrounded us from the Picos de Europa mountain range. We lived there in a big house and I enjoyed nature to its fullest. They were the happiest times of my life.
Then, everything changed for better. I was 10 years old and my world turned upside down. My parents decided to move the family from the cold plains of Castilla, to the warm Mediterranean South East of Spain City of MURCIA. My father was asked to run the river Segura, the deep valley region with big canals & dam infrastructure. This region is known for its contrast. It is a desert-like land, but full of fruits and vegetables. Water is priceless. They bring water from the north of Spain via man made canals.
The land in Murcia is full of color and scents. The most interesting part of all the region was the amount of citrus, oranges, peaches, almonds, and trees all over the valley. The smell of the flowers when the spring started every year was something I will never forget. I felt there as if I awakened to new senses I've never experienced before. I liked the weather (I was able to play soccer almost every day during the winter). It was frustrating in Valladolid due to the rain, cold or snow. So, my life turned from living inside to a life that was totally open, full of nature and adventure.
An hour away, the Mediterranean awaited me. My parents bought a place in a urbanization were I passed the following summers experiencing a different kind of Sea, different than the cold and furious Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean was friendlier; warm and calm and full of green and blue color.
The new colors I've discovered changed my perspectives forever: Light brown from the desert land, green from the trees and vegetables. Reds, yellows, purples and cremes from the fruit trees. Emerald blues from the Mediterranean Sea, and the bright blues from the sky.
Ever since I was a kid in Valladolid, I have had a great interest for the arts. When I arrived to Murcia, at just 10 years old, I went to an art exhibit almost every week by myself. That was my favorite activity alone. None of my friends liked the arts. I liked to be alone and get lost in my own imagination.
That is when I started drawing, painting and going through classes at school. I took two years of technical drawing and three years of art painting. At the same time I was visiting galleries in every city I visited. I learned from the old masters in art galleries and museums all over Europe.
I visited the best European Museums. Here there are some of the most relevant: El Prado Museum, Queen Sofia Modern art Museum, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Spain, MoMa, New York, Art Institute of Chicago, Walker Art Center Member since 1997, The Louvre, The Picasso Museum, Paris, France, Gallery Dell'Accademia & Gallery Degli Uffici in Florence, Doria Panphilj Gallery, Borghese Museum, Vatican Museums & Capitoline Museums in Rome, Gallery Dell'Accademia, Palazzo Ducale & Museo D'arte Moderna Venice, Pisa Museums, Siena Museums, and many other museums and art galleries in Murcia, Madrid and other cities.
After 13 years living in the Mediterranean, I went to live and study in Madrid, where most of my family is originally from. There, I enjoyed the arts and exhibitions every weekend. I also took an advanced drawing class with master Hakim Alsani, where I improved the art of drawing.
I continued painting and drawing all these years. Then I moved to the USA and my life changed again. Now I am painting a drawing more than ever. I have my own studio at my home.
I am evolving as a painter. I am painting the things I see, imagine and create in my mind.
I have a lot of influences; I learned from the Spanish masters like El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, Murillo, Picasso, Dali, Tapies and Barcelo, that life is there for you to discover and that there is always a better painting to do: the next one.
Santiago Zarzosa