FINE ARTS TRIP MADRID 2016




Thank you from my heart to Karla Ingleton Darocas for organising an unforgettable few days of visiting art galleries in Madrid. Sorolla House, the Spanish masters at the Prado, the Thyssen museum with a fantastic Renoir exhibition, the Queen Sofía for mind-blowing Dalí and Picasso and the exquisite romantics and costumes of the period at Queen Isabel II House...

A stroll through Retiro Park and a blissful 10 minutes listening to an audio art installation in the glass house, the sights, sounds and architecture of this great city, joyful dinners, cake and coffee morning teas, and hot chocolate and churros at the famous Choclatería San Gines.

Travelling at 300+ kmph on the high speed train was a thrill. Enjoyed every minute of all of this and grateful to Karla for organising it all and especially her fantastic in-depth knowledge of the paintings, the painters and the juicy gossip about the characters of the time, just fascinating and enlightening. XXXXX

- Kathleen Misson

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Hi Karla.
I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful few days in Madrid - I had a great time and really enjoyed the museums especially with all your immense knowledge surrounding the artists and paintings and of course the Spanish history - although I am now brain dead and absolutely knackered what a time spent with everyone on our whirlwind tour!
- Janis Turner

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Hi Karla
Thank you so much for your lively commentary and company, you were the cherry on the cake, that made our trip to Madrid so perfect.  Having participated in both the Dali lectures and Sorolla, it really helped me to have a better understanding of their art form, rather than just saying "I Like" "I don't like".  And, opened my eyes to alternative art forms as well.

Only disappointment for me, was that the Sorolla Museo was only partically opened.  Having been there last year, before your Sorolla lecture, I was so looking forward to greedily feasting my eyes...

- Helen Baxter

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How did you hear about Karla Darocas educational sessions, trips, films and workshops
* Through attending her other lectures and talks

What did you learn?
* Not just about the paintings but also much more about the lives of the artists

What features did you feel were beneficial in this event?
* Seeing the actual paintings that were shown at the lectures and talks - it makes it so much more real it brings the whole thing into prospective especially with all the extra imput from Karla about the why and how surrounding any particular works.

What elements did you like about the teaching style of Karla Darocas? * Her absolute passion about art which makes the student want to learn more

Would you recommend Karla Darocas teaching and events to others?
* Absolutely

FULL NAME & LOCATION * Janis Turner

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How did you hear about Karla Darocas educational sessions, trips, films and workshops
* From having attended her lectures

What did you learn?
* So much that my brain aches but am hungry for more

What features did you feel were beneficial in this event?
* Karla somehow manages to combine not only her immense energy but also a wonderful laid back and thoughtful approach to her lectures that evokes hunger for more knowledge along with an inspirational new viewpoint on the artists whilst delving into their lives and loves.
She brings it all to life and I absolutely love it.

What elements did you like about the teaching style of Karla Darocas? * Her vast knowledge

Would you recommend Karla Darocas teaching and events to others?
* Absolutely

FULL NAME & LOCATION
* Sue Martin from Pedreguer

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How did you hear about Karla Darocas educational sessions, trips, films and workshops
* Media

What did you learn?
* Artist technique, brush strokes how you interpret what the you are seeing. Understanding how art changed when able to take the canvas outside into natural light.

What features did you feel were beneficial in this event?
* I learnt about the history and context of when a painting was created. Who influenced the artist, the people who commissioned the paintings. The style of painting and the advent of photography alongside new techniques in painting. All learnt alongside a great deal of fun, Karla makes the time and artists come alive with a great knowledge of history. Fantastic trip and I can highly recommend it to anyone wanting to broaden their understanding. Thanks Karla and all the ladies who came too as that friendship is very important too.

What elements did you like about the teaching style of Karla Darocas? * Making it fun with so much insight

Would you recommend Karla Darocas teaching and events to others?
* Yes

FULL NAME & LOCATION
* Lizzie Clayton

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FRUITS OF FUNDRAISER BRINGS FORTH A COMPUTER TO ENHANCE CREATIVITY


On October 24th, I held a Fine Arts lecture on the master painter - Joaquín Sorolla at the Church Center in Javea. It was well attended and raised much needed funds for one of my Fine Arts students - Laura Aldridge.

Laura is a single mother struggling to raise a young boy. She is also a creative artist who produces artworks as an entrepreneur and this drives some income.

A few months ago, Laura was sent to me to train in some other skill sets that I teach like photography and marketing by a charity called Guardian Angels. While the charity paid for her training, they did not wish to fund a new laptop for Laura. Fair enough. However, I know by experience that in any business platform it is impossible to generate revenue without a computer these days.

Hence the Sorolla fundraiser and the result!!!
We went shopping at Media Mart in Gandia and bought a good quality Hewlett Packard laptop with Windows 10 and all the bells and whistles.

Thank you to all who helped in this campaign and attended the lecture on Sorolla and Thank you to Lizzie Clayton for driving us up and to Gandia :)

We all can expect great things for Laura in the future!!

Big Love,
Karla Darocas

PS. A representative from the Fine Arts Society of London was at the Sorolla lecture and after the event I received an invitation to London to give a presentation to a judging committee up there in order to become an "accredited" Fine Arts lecturer for that society. However, I don't think I will be going to London any time soon - but they have left the offer open if I do decide to make the journey.


LURE OF THE LIGHT LECTURE ON SOROLLA BRINGS OUT THE ART LOVERS


Sorolla fans and art lovers alike attended my lecture / fundraiser event in Javea on Monday the 24th of October to learn about the Valencian master painter and his favourite genre of painting - Impressionism.

Thank you to all who attended. We raised enough money for my student Laura to go shopping for supplies and tools that will keep her moving forward as an artist / entrepreneur and as the sole provider in her single family home.

Special thank you's go out to Chris and Veronica over at the Church Center in Javea who allowed me to use their space to hold this event and did not charge me an arm and a leg for rental. They are lovely folks and I hope that we can gather there again soon.

I will take over a thank you gift to them on Thursday - as that is the day that people tend to drop by the center. It is a great meeting place with plenty of friendly folks to chat with on that day.

Also, a very special Thank you to Lizzie Clayton who has signed on to be my Public Relations person and keep me "sorted" - as I am so busy all the time!! And her hubby Steve for his support and encouragement too!!

It's all positive and full of light!!

Karla Darocas, Hons. B. A.
Please share with your art lover friends.
info@SpainLifestyle.com

SOROLLA "THE LURE OF THE LIGHT" - VALENCIAN IMPRESSIONISM by Karla Darocas

SPECIAL FUNDRAISER EVENT 
Monday - 24TH October
10:30 - Seating * 11:00 Start * 12:30 Finish



PRESS INFORMATION

It has been 120 years now since the devoted Impressionist artist Joaquín Sorolla came on a vacation to Javea and decided it to be a very special place.

"Sublime Jávea, immense, the best I know for painting ... I shall be here a few days. If you were here, two months," he remarked with enthusiasm in a letter to his  wife.

In a subsequent letter he also wrote "This, Xabia, has all that I could wish for and more, and if you could see what I have in front of my cottage, you’d be lost for words to praise it; I fall silent from the emotion that still grips me; imagine, my house is on Monte Carlo itself; this is all a mad dream, just like living on the sea, aboard a great ship. You made such a mistake in not coming!! You'd be so happy... You'd enjoy yourself so much! This is the place I've always dreamt about, Sea and Mountains, but what a sea!"

Sorolla returned to paint in 1898, 1900 and 1905.

In celebration of this 120 year mark and in an effort to bring Sorolla's impressions and revolutionary artistic techniques into a broader understanding, a very special Fine Arts lecture about Sorolla will take place.

"The Lure of the Light"
Monday - 24TH October
10:30 - Seating

10€ donation

Mrs. Karla Darocas is an Honours Fine Arts graduate from Canada and is also this region's most recognised Fine Arts educator specialising in the Spanish Masters - their autobiographies, their historical times and of course their art works.

Mrs. Darocas is holding a Fine Arts lecture and visual slideshow at THE CHURCH CENTER (International Baptist Church) in Javea on Monday, October 24TH - 2016.



GOALS

  • To celebrate, appreciate & enlighten about the revolutionary 20th century art movement called Impressionism and its Valencian artistic master - Joaquín Sorolla
  • Raise much needed funds for a promising regional artist named Laura Aldridge, who is a single mother based in Benidoleig.

EDUCATION AND FUNDRAISING
To Encourage & Aid Artist & Single Mother
* LAURA ALDRIDGE



Karla has created an Art Historian in Residence programme for Laura Aldridge whereby she can attend all of the Fine Arts lectures in the teaching season, free of charge, in order to increase her arts history education and hence painting techniques.

Mrs. Darocas also recognises that Aldridge is a struggling mother trying to generate revenue for herself and her 10 year old son.

"To increase her knowledge base, Laura has taken some very important business skills training courses awarded by the charity called Guardian Angles; however, she is without business tools," expresses the educator.

"A basic laptop computer and a digital camera are the most important tools in today's business world and without them you cannot run a successful enterprise," concludes Karla Darocas.

Karla wants to be able to buy Laura Aldridge these necessary tools, and the proceeds from the Sorolla lecture will go towards this mission.

Before the lecture, the Church members will be serving beverages and home made cakes for a small donation to them.

Then - after the lecture - guest will be invited to view the artworks created by Karla in the style and technique of Sorolla but updated with the impressions of today's modern kids at the beach. Beach children being one of his favourite themes.

Guests will also be encouraged to buy some artworks created by Laura Aldridge.

It will be an event not to be missed!



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"LURE OF THE LIGHT"
Joaquín Sorolla
FINE ARTS LECTURE
Monday - 24TH October
10:30 - Seating

10€ donation

Instructor * Mrs. Karla Darocas, (Hons.B.A. Fine Arts)

VALENCIAN IMPRESSIONISM

Included in this lecture...
  • A Brief but important overview of the Impressionism art movement.
  • An In-depth look at Spanish Impressionism with a special focus on Valencian Impressionism
  • A Selective Presentation of the Life, Times & Works of Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (27 February 1863 – 10 August 1923 * Valencia, Spain)

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INVITATION
Monday - 24TH October
10:30 - Seating


Hello Friends & Students

I invite you to reserve a ticket and a seat to this very special lecture.

I am putting together an action packed adventure into the revolution of "Impressionism" and how this radical approach to art - changed our perspectives of light, colour and nature.

This lecture will be full of the "Wow!!" factor to fine art fans.

I want to take an intensive look into "Impressionism" and how "Impressionist" artists turned their backs on artificial lighting and explored what happened to their visions when they went outside to paint. For the first time, artists ventured into the natural light for a really good look around.

What they recorded and created turned heads. The change caused a scandal a century ago!

A Valenciano-born artist of middle-class background and fine arts training and awards, had the "enlightened" idea to bring the Paris-born impressionist revolution back to his home town of Valencia.

That artist was Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida.

He captured the light and recorded his "impressions" and "visions" of the Costa Blanca.

I am always so honoured to be lecturing on Sorolla. I feel so inspired!!

Hope you will share this journey with me.

And help me to buy Laura some tools so she can get busy!!

Karla Darocas,
www.SpainLifestyle.com
www.KarlaDarocas.com

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TICKET PRICES
* Guaranteed Seating
10,00€

IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND
You are invited to just buy a ticket or two via PayPal
- in order to support this event and its goal. Thank You.



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SCIENCE & THE ATOMIC AGE INFLUENCE ON DALI'S ART LECTURE


After the atomic bombs were dropped on  August 6th and 9th of 1945 on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Dalí took his work in a new direction based on the principle that the modern age had to be assimilated into art if art was to be truly contemporary.

Salvador Dalí was a man of many interests and one of them was the world of science. In his  library were hundreds of books about various aspects of science (physics, quantum mechanics, the origins of life, evolution, mathematics,etc), with notes and observations on the margins. There were also many scientific journals, which he would read to stay updated of developments in science and to which he was subscribed until his death.

Towards the end of his life he was highly interested in the work developed by Stephen Hawking, A History of Time, and in the catastrophe theory of the mathematician René Thom, with whom he was great friends.

Dali's artwork after 1945 is a historical tour of the scientific events of the 21st century, or at least of those that struck him most. Influences include the the atomic bomb, physics, quantum mechanics, the origins of life, evolution, mathematics, geometry, time travel, catastrophe theory and more!

FREUD'S INFLUENCE ON DALI'S SURREAL STYLE

Dali was the first of the visual artists of his era to seriously question and pictorially document Freudian theories. 

”Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening” (1944), Salvador Dali. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid.
Freud by Dali

This lecture and slideshow will explore Freud’s Influence on Dali’s Surreal style with special insights into...
- the concepts "Free Association" 
- and of course “Dream” Painting
- and all the funny stories and fabulous art that goes with Dali's experiments into Freud's theories of the subconscious!


LECTURE AT PARADOR JAVEA ON VELAZQUEZ


Excellent gathering of Anglo-Spanish Society members to be enlightened by the brilliant artworks of the Spanish Master artist - Diego Velazquez.

Thank you to Keith Hyde for arranging this event and for hiring me to lecture. I am always delighted to share my knowledge and my love of these works of art.

There were approximately 60 fine folks at the lecture and a few of my "fans" hung around for this lovely group shot.


Discover the Art & Philosophy of Velázquez the Most Important Painter of the Golden Age



MONDAY, 7th MARCH - 2016 
11:00

Velázquez 
(1599 - 1660)

Discover How the Art & Philosophy of Velázquez 
Shaped the Outlook of Spain and the World


Hailed as Spain's "Greatest Baroque Artist and the Most Important Painter of the Golden Age"

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was born in Seville on June 6, 1599, the oldest of six children; both his parents were from the minor nobility.

As a student of art, Velázquez absorbed and blended the most popular contemporaneous styles of painting, derived, in part, from both Flemish and Italian realism.

As a master painter, Velázquez became an innovator of perspective, the rounded form, lighting and realism. 

He also became the curator of the Prado Museum in Madrid and we can today thank this genius for his knowledge of great art and his purchases he made on behalf of the museum and King Philip 1V.

BOOK NOW!!

    

EL GRECO * THE FILM

DATE: FRIDAY, 26  FEBRUARY 2016

Film Type - Historical / Biography / Drama

REGISTER - CLICK HERE

An epic tale of an uncompromising artist and fighter for freedom, Domenicos Theotokopoulos, known to the world as «El Greco».

This historical story takes place in the 16th century, where El Greco's search for freedom, and love, ranges from the courts of Crete and Venice to Toledo in Spain.

In Medieval Spain - he is confronted by his greatest adversary - the Holy Inquisition."

Soundtrack



REGISTER - CLICK HERE

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EL GRECO * AN AFTERNOON WITH A REBEL & A GENIUS



El Greco's art is so enigmatic and different from that of his contemporaries. 

He had the forsight to blend a synthesis of the art from Byzantine culture together with Western elements of visual communications. 

His art spoke to the many different cultures and citizens of all social levels.


His artwork also is a reflection of his emotional struggles with married life, parenthood and the prevailing midieval social structure of authority. 


El Greco reaches out to us with messages and insights that keep us engaged and enlightened.



LECTURE & SLIDESHOW - approx 90 minutes

TIME: 12:00



DAY: TUESDAY 26TH, JANUARY 2016


LOCATIONS: Darocas Studios in Benitachell

FEE: 10 euros - includes beverage

MAX ROOM SIZE: 10 persons



- DEAR KARLA -


"The lecture on El Greco was just as amazing .

I know little of this painter but you certainly brought him to life in your informative and lively lecture.

I look forward to adding to my knowledge 
of Spanish Masters as I attend other lectures. 

Keep up the good work Karla. 

You are certainly making a great contribution to our cultural life and understanding of Spain."

Lorna Ainsworth - Javea



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