Concha García Zaera
Born(1930-06-12)12 June 1930
Valencia, Spain
Died20 July 2023(2023-07-20) (aged 93)
NationalitySpanish
Other names"La abuela del paint"
OccupationDigital artist
ChildrenVarious, including daughter Mar

Concha García Zaera (12 June 1930 – 20 July 2023) was a Spanish digital artist. In her later years, she became known for her Instagram account, which she used to post her digital pieces. She was known as "La abuela del paint" ("The grandmother of paint").[1]

Life and career

A native of Valencia, she spent her first 18 years learning how to draw at home. It was then that she was hired as a helper at a local photo lab, which led her to discover a passion for photography and for oil paintings. However, the strong smell of paint dissolvents discouraged her at the time from becoming an artist.[2]

Despite this, her interest for the arts continued and she studied plastic arts at the Universitat Popular de Valencia. She took painting classes at a local community center, but had to give them up after her husband became ill and she became his caretaker.[3][4] In 2004, when she was already in her mid 70s, her children gave her a computer.[3] She began drawing with the Microsoft Paint program, and began posting her pieces to Facebook.[5] In 2017, she started an Instagram account per a granddaughter's suggestion, which she used to post some of the drawings she made on Microsoft Paint.[5][6][7] In March 2018 one of her pieces was shared on Twitter and went viral.[8] In the following week, she had gained over 90,000 followers;[8] by the next week, she had over 134,000.[3] By the end of the year, Zaera's account had 185,000 followers.[4]

In 2018, García Zaera was hired by the Disney Company to recreate the posters for their film, "Mary Poppins Returns".[1][4]

García Zaera also established an online store in which she sold her drawings. Subjects included, among other things, animals, religious themes, and scenes inspired by her own life.[9] She cited postcards and landscapes as inspirations.[2] Zaera also said each of her pieces took about two weeks to create.[5]

Personal life and death

García Zaera had an unspecified number of daughters, one named Mar, as well as one son, various grandchildren and one great-grandson. Her husband of many years preceded her in death.[6]

Concha García Zaera died on the morning of 20 July 2023, at the age of 93. Her children shared the news on her Instagram account.[9] Several celebrities expressed sadness at her death, including singer Amaia, artists Carla Berrocal and Adara Sanchez, and philosopher Brigitte Vasallo.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Muere Concha García Zaera, la "abuela del Paint" que se hizo viral en Instagram". okdiario.com. 21 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 Gil, Santiago Botella (5 March 2018). "Una abuela sube a Instagram sus cuadros realizados con Paint". cadena SER (in European Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Larbi, Miranda (22 March 2018). "87-year-old grandma creates incredible images using Microsoft Paint". Metro. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Spanish grandmother makes film poster for Disney using Microsoft Paint". euronews. 25 December 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "Abuelita crea cuadros ¡en Paint!". Vanguardia MX (in Mexican Spanish). 18 October 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 https://www.msn.com/es-es/noticias/virales/muere-concha-garc%C3%ADa-zaera-la-abuela-experta-en-paint-que-consigui%C3%B3-conmover-a-los-j%C3%B3venes/ar-AA1e7X6t
  7. ↑ "Muere a los 93 años Concha García Zaera, «la abuela del Paint» valenciana que conquistó a Disney". Diario ABC. 20 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 "This 87-year-old grandma makes the most amazing art in Microsoft Paint". Mashable. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 "La trágica muerte de Concha García Zaera, la abuela del Paint: la llegó a contratar Disney". El Español. 20 July 2023.
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