From my studio: Eva Villalba Vega

I was born in Seville in 1972. I graduated in Fine Arts, specialising in the conservation and restoration of artworks, from the University of Seville in 1996.

I've worked alternating painting with restoration ever since I finished my degree and I feel lucky to have been able to practise it. Over these years I've been learning non-stop, touching on disciplines such as draughtsmanship, window dressing, interior design, furniture decoration, computer-aided design and, above all, photography. Photography, besides being a working tool, has been very present in my artwork.

Right now I'm working as a painting instructor, passing on a love of art to children and adults alike.

When and why did you start painting?

Although I've loved a piece of paper and a pencil practically since I was born, my experience with painting began when I watched my father paint in his free time, when I was only 9 or 10.

Sitting next to him I learnt how to handle oil paint, and he instilled in me the love and passion I feel for it.

How do you think a gallery and its artists should help each other?

By collaborating and reaching an agreement that benefits both. The best way to get an individual benefit is always to join forces for a collective one. There's strength in numbers, and that's no empty phrase.

What advice would you give to artists who are just starting to show their work?

First of all I'd tell them to make a selection of their artwork, the pieces they identify with, the ones that fulfil them, the ones that really, in the end, represent them. The ones that show the best of themselves.

How did you sell your first artwork? Is there one you feel a stronger connection with?

I remember the first artwork I sold as if it were yesterday, back in 1993. It wasn't in a gallery exactly, but in a bar/gallery that gave new artists the chance to exhibit. Not a very commercial subject: the Santa Justa train station in Seville, just opened and built thanks to the 1992 Universal Exposition.

Estación de Sta. Justa de Sevilla, Eva Villalba Vega.

Along the way I've felt a certain connection with the odd artwork, but if I had to choose one I'd go with Inocencia Rota, an artwork I sold some time ago now and that gave me great satisfaction while I was painting it.

What is art to you? What role does it play in your life? Do you make a living from art?

Art is my life, I was born for it and I'll die with it. Every day I fight to convey everything I have inside me and to let others enjoy my work as much as I do.

What are your sources of inspiration? Do you identify with any other artist?

My source of inspiration is children, although I also do a lot of landscape. Social criticism is my weak spot.

I don't identify with any artist, I try to follow my own line, though you always have a soft spot for one or another.

What is it about your creative process that makes it special?

Whether my painting is special is something I think my followers can see. I try to be guided by my feelings without following any particular method, hence the variety of subjects. I keep looking for ways to make it more personal every day, studying each brushstroke I make, getting the initial idea down.

Have you had an exhibition recently, what can you tell us about it? Do you have any project in mind?

Yes, the last thing I did was show two of my artworks at the II ToArtists Crearte Fair 2017 held in Granada (5, 6 and 7 May).

At the moment I'm working on themes of social criticism and I'm planning an exhibition bringing together the different problems we're having right now in this very complicated society.