Cutting Painting

Hello everyone! I am Susana F. Blanco, a Spanish artist now based in Saudi Arabia teaching Design at PMU University. I have always loved to paint, explore, learn, and create new things. I started drawing on the walls of my parent’s house, and after many years of failure and reinvention, you can see me fulfilling my dreams here. I am right now in a stage of progress and evolution. It is tough, but I am enjoying the journey. My heart tells me that this effort would be worth it. After many years of exploring many painting techniques, I am focusing on encaustic. Encaustic painting, also known as wax painting, involves using heated beeswax and Dammar resin mixed with coloured pigments. This technique was used in the Fayum mummy portraits in Egypt around 100–300 AD. The benefits of this medium to me are its dimensional quality and bright colour, although it is technically challenging to master. Also, I am interested in using this technique in murals and outdoor paintings because of its excellent resistance to sun and weather conditions. I have over sixteen years of experience in teaching Art and Design. I have an International PhD in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), a Master’s Degree in Contemporary Art and a double BA (Hons) in Art and Design, one from the UK and the other from Spain. The topic of my doctoral thesis was “The Use of Beeswax as a Material in the Arts and its Applications from the 20th Century to the Present.” I am also passionate about sustainability, and I am continuously researching ways to find sustainable materials for my studio. My paintings are for those who love bright and vibrant colours. I love to play with organic images of Nature related to my feelings and experiences with almost Baroque contrasts and movements. I like the game of hiding things in my abstract paintings that perhaps no one can see or interprets differently: how the same reality looks different when it passes through each one’s soul filter. I also like to represent the human figure trying to mix it with Nature as if it were a unique entity. I do not reduce the painting to a mental operation, although I consider it essential. The sensations are at the base of my work, looking for a synthesis between emotion and forms. I am passionate about watching, living, loving, and emotionally retaining these experiences. I greatly respect drawing because it is a space builder, and its gesture distinguishes each artist’s work.