María Martínez is an Aragonese trained in technical architecture and interior design who came to Mallorca after living in Italy and Germany. Actually, as she confesses, she had never considered the option of coming to Mallorca, but she missed the sun, the possibility arose and she said to herself «why not?». So she packed her bags and settled on the island. "At that time, I didn't know what I was looking for or if my stay here would be a transition, but the years have passed and I have realized that what I wanted was some peace and quiet, freedom, and to work less." Or, at the very least, to work differently.
Freedom and that other way of working came, but like all good things, it was a long time coming. Once in Mallorca, Maria started working in a company until, one day, after an intense working day, she felt exhausted and, as she says with the perspective that only time can give us, "trapped in a groundhog's day". That same day, her boss invited her to a coffee and then she felt it: "this is the coffee shop where I'm going to quit my job," she recalls. And that’s what she did. She locked herself up at home all weekend and thought, planned and, above all, connected with herself. On Monday she confirmed that she would be cutting ties with the company and began to plan her own drawing and painting school.
Although, as she admits, the dream of entrepreneurship had never crossed her mind and she no one close to her could have served her as a guide, she got down to work. She took twenty-three courses at Palma Activa to enter a world - that of entrepreneurship - which soon proved to be very complex, but also exciting and challenging. Since then, five years have passed.
"I thought it would be awesome to create a healthy space for artistic creation, but also social".
Among canvases, work tables and plants (Artisteo now shares space with Biznaga Atelier), María tells us about the beginnings of the adventure. "I thought it would be awesome to create a healthy space where you could meet new people through the creative medium. A space for artistic creation, but also social". And the idea became a reality. At the Artisteo atelier, María teaches classes in small groups for restless people, some with experience in the art world and others who simply feel the itch to learn and give free rein to their imagination. "The pandemic awakened the creative side of many people who dared to try without having to reach anything concrete" and, of course, here they feel at home because in the workshop on Carrer Peleteria the important thing is to experiment, enjoy the process and get their hands dirty.
"When you work with your mind and your hands at the same time, you share, you observe the other, and that creativity is at the center."
The other aspect, the social aspect, has also been more than fulfilled, and Maria's satisfaction is evident when she talks about her students. In the groups, «a very beautiful bond forms between people. My students are different, but I notice that they have something in common that brings them together.» We don't know if that common factor is creative curiosity, the desire to reconnect with the inventive capacity that we adults too often lose as the years go by, but what Maria is clear about is that this invisible bond is real, beautiful and very human. "When you work the mind and the hands at the same time, you share, you observe the other, and that creativity is at the center."
Artisteo was received in a very human way, too. At the beginning, after the inauguration of her old place, Maria waited a few months to form the first groups. Since it was an atelier, hardly anyone came to the establishment, but word spread and the first students began to recommend the school. "In Mallorca I found a way of communicating through word of mouth that no longer exists in many places. I never stuck up a poster or advertised."
In January 2020, María and Elena, from Biznaga Atelier, signed a lease to join forces in the same space. The symbiosis of both projects (art and botany, creativity and nature) was a tempting idea because, in the end, the goal of both was to invite us to create with our hands, to confront our own beliefs and to overcome the blocks of "I'm not good at it" to start, or rather, to return, to play. Two months later, the pandemic arrived, the confinement, and the project (like practically everything else) was put on hold.
However, when the doors opened in the summer, Maria immediately understood that, despite the restrictions, people wanted to draw, share and dedicate time to something that we so often forget, which is simply to enjoy and connect with ourselves. In Artisteo's courses you learn about charcoal and graphite, composition and color theory, watercolor and acrylic, Indian ink and oil... but, above all, you relearn to create in freedom, to experiment without fear and to share -with a glass of wine- those little moments that make life worthwhile.
