El Almiquí Verde
About me
¡Hello!
My name is Elena Brito, Cuban by birth and traveler by vocation. A few years ago I decided to settle in a place surrounded by forests, so I can see nature everywhere. No wonder that nature appears very frequently in my works! Here I have given wings to my love for art, painting and the creation of beautiful objects.
My artistic journey
Thanks to my parents, crafts have always been part of my life, although I never thought myself capable of drawing or painting, always undermined by the myth of innate talent. The truth is that I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that, with practice and commitment, we can all do it.
I am almost-a self-taught artist. Back in 2011, I discovered some book that turned upside down my whole life: it taught me how to see like an artist. But my artistic journey started a few years before. In the early 2000s, I attended several workshops taught by the Japanese painting teacher, Oowaki Chizuko, at the Havana Art University, supported by her disciple Masahiro Uemura. With them I hold a brush for the first time in my hand, and dared to paint a few strokes on paper. From them I learned that the act of painting does not only involve the hand, that we must put body and soul in each stroke.
There was still another teacher who oriented my life towards this world of painting, the great and beloved Antonio Alejo. He made some unforgettable tours through the Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, carrying behind him a group of marveled youngsters, showing us the appreciation of light, volume, movement, colors... Alejo managed to convey all the love and fascination needed to awaken in me the seed of Art.
And about that book that changed my life, it's title is "Drawing on the right side of the brain", and I also owe a big thanks to the author, Betty Edwards, and to all the artists who share selflessly tutorials and advice on the Internet. Thanks to them, and to the unconditional support of my husband, today I can call myself an artist on my journey, and feel happy for the long road I can see ahead.
ElalmiquíVerde
El Almiquí Verde (The Green Almiquí) is born from the need to create, not only useful but also neautiful things. So I came up with the idea of mixing my passion of painting and that of binding to create notebooks that can be seen as pieces of art.
I made the first notebooks in 2017, and since then I have not stopped creating new designs, sometimes from my own imagination, sometimes on request.
Why THE GREEN ALMIQUÍ? The name is my little tribute to one of the painters of my country who inspire me the most: Carlos Enriquez, and his workshop, that gathered the best cultural life of Havana in its time.
So, what is an almiquí? It is an animal, an insectivore, native of Cuba and the Caribbean. It's endangered, only a few of them remain alive in the east of the island. It is one of the oldest animals in the world, and has been preserved almost unchanged since the Cretaceous. Therefore, they are living sample of those creatures that shared the earth with dinosaurs.
But yes, you are right: they are not green. :D
Our Creative Process
Catching the Muse
I live surrounded by nature, and this is my most faithful and constant Muse. It is not uncommon, then, that when I sit down to paint, leaves, flowers, and all kind of natural designs appears rather frecuently on paper. I also love to visit museums, and can spend long hours letting myself be inspired by the Masters, by their way of doing, by their colors...
Artistic soul
The process of designing and painting of the covers is usually what takes me the most time in creating a notebook. Once I have the idea of what I want to paint, each step takes its time: think about the best composition for the main motive, whether or not it will have a background, choose the colors and, finally, paint it.
Artisan hands
Covers:
After the cover is already hand-painted, it is time to cut the cardboard that will serve as support, and join everything carefully with glue. Once the glue has dried completely, I proceed to varnish each cover to protect the paint from possible damage. Two layers of fixing varnish are applied to each cover.
Paper:
While the varnish dries, the papers are cut to size if necessary, and hand folded one by one to get the signatures that will form the textblock of the notebook.
Binding:
When covers are completely dry, the paper folded and the signatures are formed, small holes are hand opened with a punch in each of them. One Coptic notebook usually has about 56 holes on it, through which the sewing string will pass, either cotton or hemp.
The whole process of making each notebook takes usually a couple of days, or even more, when it comes to finding and painting the perfect design.
