María José Royuela

The hallmark of Spanish artist María José Royuela’s oil paintings is patience. Each piece painstakingly reflects her quiet observations of her surroundings and her internal responses to those landscapes, resulting in meticulous depictions of the details of nature we so often miss. Inspired by a childhood in La Rioja playing in the dirt, Royuela plumbs the simplicity and depth of the connections between human beings and landscape to create images that reflect the awe-inspiring simplicity of life, where everything is intertwined and simply waiting to be discovered.

In her art, Royuela creates a culture of authenticity, where she celebrates the “strength of the soil, the organic, the natural, while fleeing urban culture, materialism and the superficial.” Everything in her paintings works to support this vision. Colors are muted and compositions are balanced, becoming accessories to the visual effect rather than a driving force. Certainly Royuela has an eye for the beauty that can be found in the mundane, and her paintings have much to teach us about seeing the world around us.