"Drawing has been my passion since I was very young. I started to scribble with colors long before I started to write. I don't remember any period of my life in which I wasn't developing some artistic activity, whether it was painting, imitating the gadgets from Art Attack or playing an instrument," reasons Sara Falcó before a freshly served "cañita with a splash of vermouth."
The artist from Alicante, vintage 1989 and based in Barcelona, has arrived at the Bar unusually early for her confessed nocturnal condition. When asked if she leaves the radio on or wants to listen to something specific, the answer was emphatic: "Music is one of the great pleasures that life has granted me. I'm the usual bore who never gets tired of asking the DJ for songs at parties. If I can choose, let's listen to You and your friend by Dire Straits. Only one condition: Volume, please!"
With a unique and much-applauded stroke among lovers of hyperrealist art, Sara is very proud "to have achieved complete independence in all aspects of my life to carry out my projects without depending on anyone, which makes me feel free and happy." She owes this independence to the launch of her painting studio and academy, Arte Falcó Studio & Gallery, where she prepares her exhibitions and teaches classes. "The studio was born from the enthusiasm for drawing and the desire to live from art, and it is the result of much effort and dedication."
Now, she is immersed in the creation of an online course on realistic pencil portraiture. "Since I started teaching in-person classes at my studio, many people from outside Barcelona, and even from other countries, ask me about the course in video format, so I decided to do it. It's taking me a long time, but the effort will be worth it, it's going to be very complete."
It was a now or never
"My interest in transmitting sensations through gaze and expression has been present since I was very young. However, it was at 17 that I started to give a realistic finish to my drawings. Nowadays I wouldn't say it was very realistic, but oh well. I discovered that I was able to achieve a reasonable likeness through shadow work and not just line work," reasons the patron who, after studying Fine Arts at the University of Murcia, decided, obstinate and clear-sighted, "to continue my training in digital painting, design, and illustration in Barcelona."
At that moment, Sara was clear that her profession would be linked to art, "but I wasn't very clear how until a couple of years ago, the day I decided to quit my job as a graphic designer. I saw myself sitting in the office, working for someone else, without any motivation or creative contribution, and I thought: 'this has to change. And it's now or never'." It was then that she embarked on the adventure and became an entrepreneur. "As a good Leo, my character is not made to obey orders; I like to do things by myself and in my own way."
A perfectionist, tenacious, and armed with infinite patience ---"an essential quality in realism"---, in the last year the artist "has had the pleasure of creating seven mural paintings in the streets of Gràcia. The spray technique offers a lot of possibilities, although it has been a real challenge, as I had never used this material before. I would highlight, among all of them, the one I did on a glass door on Aulèstia i Pijoan street, with Casa Vicens in the background." For that work, Sara used "spray for the background and acrylic paint in the creation of the characters. The composition is based on a scene from the movie City Lights, by the very tender Charles Chaplin."
Barcelona, love at first sight
The local resident admits to "having dreamed of a life in Barcelona since she was very young, attracted by the culture and opportunities it offers artistically, in addition to its charm". And, like so many newcomers who end up falling head over heels in love with the city, the moments that define that love at first sight come from getting lost in its streets.
"I was walking through the Gothic Quarter and got lost. I ended up in what, for many, is considered the saddest square in Barcelona, Sant Felip Neri. I recognized the place immediately: the fountain, the walls with shrapnel impacts, and it wasn't because I had been there before, but because it was where a music video that I had seen ad nauseam during my adolescence was filmed: Evanescence's My Immortal. Furthermore, it was also one of the settings in my beloved film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. How could I not recognize it! Then I learned that, in the midst of the Civil War, this square suffered bombings by fascist aviation, causing the death of many children from the Sant Felip Neri school. Despite this, the children from the current school were there, playing soccer and tag, without having to worry about traffic, oblivious to the tragedy that preceded them, to the history that those walls narrated."
That mix of sadness, tragedy, joy, and carelessness took root in the painter's soul, who admits to being "in that idealization phase typical of falling in love, where everything seems wonderful to you" and who feels "very welcomed in this beautiful city that, for me, represents passion, freedom, and tolerance: a place where everything is possible. I feel that, no matter how much I try, I will never fully unravel its history, and I love that."
--- What you can unravel and will love is our unparalleled gastronomic offer. We have everything: portions, menu, sandwiches, mixed dishes… And all exquisite!
Sara Falcó finishes her beer and thinks for a brief moment, before declaring, with a tone that does not hesitate, does not waver, of someone who does all things in her life her way and only her way:
--- Mixed, I need to mix. If there are not more than three colors on the plate, it's not worth tasting!