n nothingness any creation is a miracle" True words to live by artist Alexandria Peralta she personifies that with her sketches and oil paintings. The Florida native shows in each of her paintings elements of nature and aspects of life and death for example in paintings Rosy World and Little Sunflower showcasing those themes. You can feel the time and technique in stroke of the paintings. Additionally, it can be seen in the self-portrait using sfumatao to create depth for this ghostly figure additionally it carries the elements of memento mori. The balance she brings to each painting allows them to be great pieces for the home. Now her creative process varies as she describes that it depends on her inspiration in more detail she explains: "Sometimes I’m scrolling through social media and become inspired by someone’s post. Other times I just make small thumbnails and start sketching whatever comes to mind.It’s much less intimidating to fill a thumbnail then it is to fill a sketch book page or canvas, so I always start small. From there, I’ll enlarge the picture, print it out, and transfer it onto a surface." She notes also that mind set plays an important role of her painting by getting over the hurdle of the fear of failure as many artist and creative people have and moving forward with good music and her tools of the trade.
"In nothingness any creation is a miracle"
Getting into her techniques of how she paints she goes in to detail: "I paint in layers using oils so I try to stick with the fat over lean rule. I’ll usually start with a thin wash of one color in order to get the values and composition correct. Then the next layer is paint mixed with a small amount of gamsol and gamblin's solvent-free fluid. The same mixture is used for the final layers which involve more defining and adding finishing touches." In her work, it can be seen the use of cool tones such as blues, greens, and purples. She utilizes warmer colors as accents. She also explains that she has a love for pastel colors but also loves rich jewel tones, like phthalo blue and viridian green. Her diverse background does play a role in her art being of Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Italian descent she explains "I often include many different skin tones in my art so I feel like that reflects the diversity of the Hispanic community. I don’t really do any obvious signs like flags in my art but I would like to paint some women in traditional dresses from my culture."
Surprisingly enough her medium of choice to paint on is wood hopefully in the future more of that is shown. The artist explains why wood is her medium of choice stating, "I actually don’t paint on canvas often. I prefer wood panels or gessoed hardboard panels. The surface is much smoother compared to canvas and the paint is easier to spread. Hardboard is probably my favorite though because the colors are the most vibrant."
From a hobby to a business she wants to continue to give the world a piece of her art and let it decide what to make of it. In her own words, she describes what art means to her in relation to her journey so far: "I definitely want my art to be more than just a hobby. These past few years I’ve been very focused on finishing college and getting a stable job. I have two children so stability is important to me. I never want to feel like I have to create art in order to support my family. That would just take away the fun for me. But moving forward, I’d like to focus more on my art. I plan on buying my own printer so I can start selling prints."
Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlexandriaPeralta
Instagram: @alexandriaperalta_
