In 1985, under the presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch, I entered a competition that was dedicated to sporting artists (I had a federal license to participate in sporting events in table tennis and mountain biking). The competition was held because Baron Pierre de Couvertein, the initiator of the modern Olympic Games, wanted to re-create the relationship between art and sports that had existed in ancient Greece. I won first prize in that competition and that award allowed me to introduce my paintings to many art galleries. After this competition came many more like it, as well as numerous exhibitions.
I have done shows in Spain, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Andorra, Mexico, Italia and USA. And I recived severals awards.
The thing that really inspired me to become a painter was Vincent Minelli’s film ‘The mad man with the red hair’, based on Van Gogh’s life and his relationship with Gauguin. Together with a close friend of mine, who was also interested in art, we used to take boxes of paints (I took my father’s oils box) and head for the countryside to paint ‘au plein air’ landscapes which we captured in an evidently ‘impressionist’ style.
We did this for approximately two years, however, when my friend and I reached the ages of 19-20, life changed the way we looked at things. Events such as first relationships with the opposite sex, engagements, weddings etc. made me concentrate on more reflexive paintings, (atelier painting). This led me to paint still life subjects such as compositions of fruits and domestic objects. I used to alternate this with drawing figurative subjects twice a week at Saint Lluch (Circle of Art). I was active member of this association for three years.