“The Art Oddity” arises much earlier than anyone can imagine, including ourselves. It was like a project that came to life naturally and slowly in the imagination of our founder, Sofía.
It all started at the Academy of Art and Drawing in Barcelona, where Sofía nurtured herself with knowledge, theories, and techniques; however, she realized this was not enough to start creating her work. The charcoal exercises and oil portraits only increased her curiosity about the personal processes of the artists such as, How do they evolve? How did they come to discover their style? What is their inspiration? What makes them get to where they are?
The next step was to sign up for several intensive painting workshops where you learned directly from a specific artist. She realized that she could acquire such valuable knowledge in less than five days that she would undoubtedly apply to her next work. All that art did not come from exercises but from artists’ experiences, intentions, ways of seeing life, and techniques.
Then that curiosity became a fascination, and Sofía materialized it by creating workshops in Barcelona with several artists who liked her and wanted to bring The Art Oddity to life.
In January 2020, the first workshop under The Art Oddity was with the artist “Carlos Herraiz.” The workshop consisted of a very specific and experimental program that managed to arouse the student’s enthusiasm and encourage them to create their work and apply the techniques they learned in the workshop. Undoubtedly, it was a complete success, and Sofía did not delay organizing workshops for the rest of the year.
In 2020, unfortunately, several scheduled workshops had to be canceled and postponed with the arrival of the pandemic. However, Sofía did not give up; she knew she had managed to create a great project that would mark all who had the opportunity to experience it.
The bases were already established; however, only a specific and closed audience came there. Coming from Guatemala, Sofía understood that there would be people who could not afford to travel to the other side of the world to attend a workshop due to time or economy. Thus, this online platform broke down borders and allowed the experience of artists to reach every corner of the world arises.
Artists who marked Sofia’s entire journey as a student joined the project including, Gerard Castellvi, Alba Sacristan, Joakim Bergström, Ayuesh Agarwal, and Adrià Llarch. Sofia immersed herself in the online world that comprised video production, editing, and marketing without any knowledge. Each course was to show the artist’s approach to an exercise from start to finish. The exercises give free rein to the ideas and creations of the protagonists, achieving a realistic result that is faithful to their process.
Anyone who feels the art call can learn from the courses regardless of whether he is a beginner or experienced. The Art Oddity offers two initiation courses to painting and drawing, and three courses focused on different types of exercises that help to see this art differently and help individuals develop their process with a strong foundation. Painting the self-portrait, landscape painting, and portrait are the three basic exercises to practice new techniques and tools that later offer freedom and mastery of concepts. Thus, with this new vision of painting, each apprentice immerses himself in their inspiration and unleashes their authentic creativity.
Each artist who is the protagonist of the courses strives to share experiences, knowledge, and even the smallest details that are essential for them when developing the different exercises. In addition, visual material and graphics are included in each course to help mutual understanding between the student and the painter. Images, music, and the opportunity to connect with the artists.
The goal was, is, and always will be to create an artistic community around the world that is united by passion and love of art. We cannot fail to mention that the fundamental principle of The Art Oddity is to let creativity flow in its different forms and processes and that all individuals can choose and learn at their own pace and develop their style.
