Introduction to Spanish Artist Poet Samuel Rosell

There are so many ways to find and follow artists now that we have the internet. I saw a profile of Spanish painter Samuel Rosell in the magazine Art is Spectrum. A Google search followed and my email reached him in minutes. Rosell is also in the medical profession and as I read his answer to the question about the influence of being a doctor I couldn't help but here echoes of Chekov, the Russian short story writer who also was a physician. It is my privilege to share him here with you.

Ennyman: When did you first notice that you were a creative person?
SR: I noticed that I was a creative person very late actually, about 5 years ago. Was by casualty, I was drawing nothing, just playing with a pencil while I was chatting by phone and a girlfriend saw it and said to me: do you know you are very talented for drawing? I didn't know really. I remember I used to draw a lot in my childhood but later I forgot about it.

EN: In what ways were you influenced by your grandfather, the Dadaist painter?
SR: The influence of my grandfather is very passive, a sort of intuitive flow we can say. We spent lots of time together just walking, seeing, drawing in silence, almost never sharing opinions... so I guess I learned to trust in my own intuition and how to express it in art. Also the bright colors, of course, jajaja... as a dadaist the sky could be clear green and strong red.

EN: You are a physician who longs to be a full time artist. How long have you been a doctor and in what ways has that influenced your art?
SR: I am a physician already for 10 years working in first aid. Before that I had to study 10 years, too, so we can say that I am in the medicine world during 20 years and I am 38. The influence is in as many levels as life itself, it is hard to me to say: for sure I learned about anatomy and human body, proportions, movements and more deeply about emotions, human being experiences like compassion, suffering, death, birth...etc. All this gives a spiritual vision of life on earth and what is behind social conventionality.

EN: You’ve also travelled extensively. What did you see and learn that most impressed you about the places you visited?
SR: Travelling for me is, as medicine and living in nature, a way of knowing myself, healing myself and learning. Maybe one of the places that impacts me more is the Sahara desert; the space, the sky, the light and the silence as a big being embracing you, watching you and advertising at same time. The people of the desert they are part of it, they belong to the landscape like a rock or a dry bush. You can feel very little there, crazy sometimes, other times blessed and touched deep in the heart. After few days in the desert you can here your name whispered in you ear.

EN: Both Picasso and Dali were from Spain. How has being a Spanish painter influenced you?
SR: To be honest I really appreciate artists such as Picasso, Dali, Velazquez but it doesn't affect me much. The most: Goya! But I do prefer other classic artists like Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Michelangelo. I am actually more influenced by modern painters: O'Keeffe, Clemente, Duras...

EN: You also write poetry. What prompted you to take an interest in poetry?
SR: Poetry and writing for me is essential. Writing always makes company to me in my trips. For me writing is like a journey where I express dreams, diary experiences, tabus, fantasies, insides...etc and always I do like to mix it with different kinds of drawing techniques. In my web you can see an example if you want: www.samuelrosell.es section: Books.

All paintings on this blog entry courtesy Samuel Rosell. Make time to visit his website at http://samuelrosell.es/