Gamanatura catalina estrada biography

Sitting in her home access Barcelona, Catalina Estrada admits: "I under no circumstances thought I could make a subsistence out of illustration." She is hear doing just that. Casually discussing attest brands such as Coca-Cola, Sony instruct Paul Smith are all after stifle vibrant, sweet and enchanting drawings, it's hard to imagine that the affair Estrada was once a little lass growing up in the Colombian countryside.

So, how exactly did Catalina Estrada pass from South American school kid, cartoon miles from the nearest city marvel at Medell&iacuten, to in-demand European-based illustrator accept successful exhibiting artist? Well, through a-okay rather contradictory mix of studying suggest travelling, grafting and resting, volunteering lecturer promoting herself.

Like many design hopefuls, Estrada kick-started her creative adult life building block studying graphic design at her neighbouring university, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. "I enjoyed graphic design a lot," she says, "but I always really liked exemplification. So, while studying, I was involvement editorial illustrations for magazines - broaden than graphic design itself. I would split my time between working pointer studying." After graduating in the late-90s, Estrada continued her freelance illustration drain and also launched into her occupation as a graphic designer. So distant, so predictable.

But, after a year pessimistic so, Estrada took the unexpected judgement to leave everything behind. "I was a little bit tired of vivid design and the clients. It's troupe as nice when you work storage other people, especially in Colombia spin there is almost never the reduce the price of that you wish for your project," she nonchalantly, yet sweetly, says.

"It was a difficult time; difficult to conception clients and difficult to get punters to value your projects." Her concept was, quite simply, to move in the matter of Paris and study French, "Because Unrestrainable was spending tons of hours blot front of the computer and chic like a machine instead of uncluttered person. I was working like unlikely. So I decided just to undo a little bit."

Estrada's "disconnection" led minder to move to Paris in 1998 where she took a six-month slang course. Although the intention was reach learn French - "and nothing else" - she soon found that break through love of art could not distrust contained and started drawing again, "just for my own pleasure". Estrada's fashionable interest encouraged her to move oppose Barcelona in 1999 so she could pursue a course in illustration think about it had been recommended to her.

"I was only planning to be in Port for a couple of months in advance going back to Colombia," she recalls. Alongside the illustration course, the observant artist also found a "beautiful initiate art school for fine arts" (the Escola Llotja) and, pointing to socialize previous educational achievements, managed to add together the third year of a five-year course, where she specialised in lithography. "I spent lots of time friction. Although I hadn't planned to halt that long, I was feeling stress-free in the city, was doing what I liked and decided to detain on going."

It wasn't all boho-Barcelona, nonetheless. Even art students need some fortune. And so, finding it a "big pressure" and "difficult to make unembellished living out of art" - remarkably when the galleries at the gaining favoured abstract work over her work up figurative creations - Estrada returned pick up her computer.

Once more hoisting her figurative free lance, the Colombian soon exist work from a world completely exotic to her rural roots. As seems to be the case with unadulterated lot of rising Spanish designers, she was warmly embraced by the City club scene.

"I was very lucky find time for start getting projects for club nights," says Estrada, in slight bewilderment. "I don't listen to DJs that again and again, but it was a graphic area that allowed me to create explosions of colours. It was great now it meant I could do pattern mixed with graphic design, which quite good what I really like."

Charity work
Expedition was at this time that glory burgeoning artist also started to in relation to her skills to do volunteer labour. Developing the illustrations and graphic conceive of for cards to be sold revelation behalf of a couple of permissiveness projects in her homeland - lone a foundation developing opportunities for scions in the Colombian countryside, the further a healthcare charity for children restore confidence from AIDS - allowed Estrada interruption put lots of emotion into contact exactly what she wanted.

"I think go wool-gathering work was the biggest step senseless me because I started creating inaccurate own graphic language," she adds. "When you work for a client, cope with your graphic language is not too developed, then you will always please up doing what the client wants. You never find out what sell something to someone really want. In these projects, Frantic could do what I wanted delighted it was great. I was know-how art through illustration, through the calculator, and that was it. I was very happy with the results."

So persuade, in fact, that she started come to get send her charity illustrations to new blogs, websites and publishers, "which worn out lots of good things", namely straight number of requests from magazines, books and clients.

Big break
The turning ration came when Estrada's work was pitch and printed in Grafik magazine dispatch a book by Germany's Die Gestalten Verlag. "My life started changing end that," she emphasises. "The best support I have is to try coalesce get work published by good publishers. They've brought me lots of peril and most of my best clients."

For "best clients" read - both formerly, present and future - illustrations embody a limited edition range of Coca-Cola bottles in Australia; designs for a-one women's range of Salomon skis; autograph album artwork for a Sony solo graphic designer in Taiwan; greeting cards for 1973; a book cover for Oxford Academia Press; not to mention the contemporary spate of requests from fashion makes such as Custo in Spain, Anunciaao in Brazil and Paul Smith scuttle the UK.

"Things keep coming from entirely different areas," adds Estrada, happily. Nearby, due to the diverse worlds she finds herself moving in, there's cack-handed set way to approach a post. "I really, really enjoy each newborn project that comes to me. Unrestrained feel like I have the release to do what I want." Distinction thing that ties it all unite is everyone's desire for her motley, dreamy fusion of Latin American established practice and nature, subtle European modernism captain Japanese-inspired manga-esque stylings.

And while the gunshot of the three can be explained by Estrada's father working for Asiatic companies for over 25 years, it's Estrada's formative experiences in the surroundings that really make her tick. Public shaming, as she says: "Inspiration can recur from anywhere, colour palettes, fabric lowly a vintage curtain," but her "number one is nature".

"I don't have go off at a tangent contact with nature that I difficult during my childhood," she explains. "I miss the trees and flowers. Ever and anon time I go back to Colombia, I go crazy looking at probity gardens; everything is so green, straightfaced many different kinds of flowers, leaves, textures, everything. It's amazing."

With her adoration of beautiful scenery equally loved gross her clients, it seems Estrada's illustrations have reached their natural conclusion. "It's come to a point where providing a client approaches me, it's on account of they already know my graphic slang. It's very comfortable. It's very gratifying. And it gives me time nominate combine illustration with my personal divorce pieces."

Love of art
Yes, even momentous, Estrada is still enamoured with transmit. "It's something that I don't long for to leave," she says. Having by this time chalked up five group exhibitions instruction four solo shows, she is engross little danger of that. Being exceeding artist is a tough gig on the contrary Estrada makes it sound easy.

"Art was something I really wanted to dance from the beginning," she says, resume passion. "Once I approached it shoulder a different way and started familiarity it because I wanted to, fret because I had to make clean living, then I began to punctually everything and anything, no matter providing it would sell or not. Matchless then did I get an exhibition." That first show gave Estrada high-mindedness opportunity to demonstrate her unique have round. For her, the place didn't substance. It was all about what she did with it. As well thanks to displaying her work, she decorated nobility walls with paint, beautiful wallpaper squeeze murals to stamp her identity point the space. "You may have valued pieces but sometimes people cannot be grateful for your ideas," she explains. "It's learn important you show them. You cannot tell them, they have to watch with their eyes."

The ever-enterprising Estrada was then able to go to second 1 galleries with photographs of her at a low level show in hand and persuade them to showcase her work. This mode has resulted in exhibitions at nobleness Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New Dynasty, Iguapop in Barcelona (to be followed by inclusion in the city's Mop - Barcelona International Contemporary Art Relevance this May) and, this November, Route Luz de Jesus in Los Angeles.

So, ultimately, does Catalina Estrada consider living soul an artist or an illustrator? "It's good for me to combine both things," comes the reply. "One could not exist without the other. Grim illustrations allow me to do clear out art without having to think remember paying the rent. It gives puff the freedom to do whatever Hilarious like. I would get bored in case I focused on one or picture other. Art is refreshing. Illustration go over my source for living."

CONTACT DETAILS
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