I’ve always loved admiring art made from wood, such a noble element and material derived from trees, and thinking that such beautiful things can be created from it, things brimming with creativity. And it’s not just art; wood is present in every aspect of our lives. But when it comes to art, it has a special significance. Handcrafted wooden pieces, made by an artisan, are something very special.

I had promised you the second part of this spectacular art exhibition featuring wooden sculptures, although, as I explained last time, the artist has used many other materials, with wood being the predominant one.

This art gallery, which belongs to the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de Málaga, always has two exhibition rooms where the works are displayed, and what made this second room special was a large screen showing the artist’s work. I stood there watching for a while and took two photographs of it. The room was entitled: José de la Calle’s Home Workshop. Working Environment.

It was lovely to see how he works with wood; I’ve always loved manual work. I believe there’s great value in what we make ourselves, using our creativity and imagination, rather than the way everything is done nowadays with machine tools. What defines us as human beings is the things we make. And this really gives us plenty to reflect on.

In this room I found a wide variety of works, many of which were on the floor. But next to the screen, there were lots of small pieces I couldn’t get close to; there was a tape barrier in front of me that only allowed me to take photos from a distance. I hope you can zoom in on the photos to see these beautiful pieces.

The artist’s work is astonishing, and I found myself thinking about the time it must have taken to create each piece, as well as mixing the wood with other materials, which he must have had to work with too.

Behind me was a large display case containing many more pieces, some of which were very interesting in their form. I loved the shoe last, but my favourite there is the one that looks like an eye. Of course, if you have a favourite of your own, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

But as I mentioned last time, when it was just my friend and me in the gallery, the man who runs the gallery came over to us to give us an information leaflet. And he didn’t do that for the other visitors.

The truth is that I’ve been going to the gallery for several years now and he knows us; he always greets us and is very friendly, but the fact is that he knows we’re interested in art, and in this exhibition none of the works had names, just numbers. That’s why he gave us that leaflet, and as I promised, I’ve brought you some photos of it; here you can see all the works with their names and even the materials they’re made from.

Towards the end of the leaflet, there was a very interesting point. It mentions that behind each of these works there is a story involving time, techniques, cultures, legends and traditions. The artist’s own experiences, anecdotes such as the games they played as a child, their love of birds, and many objects that hold memories of their childhood and youth.

Art is, after all, an expression of the self; it’s about capturing the very essence of our inner selves using different materials or media, a way of expressing ourselves, and that is precisely what I saw in this rather unique art exhibition.

Works of art that are out of the ordinary and take you by surprise, that’s the beauty of imagination; it’s always creating.

Thank you very much for joining me today; I wish you all a very happy Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.

All photographs are my own.