Verushka Freixas is a visual artist with a special characteristic. In addition to being an avid reader, she is an illustrator of children’s stories, which she also writes. Her way of playing with colors and shapes makes her drawings seem very vivid, because they are vibrant and surely awaken in the imagination of her little readers that cordial gesture with which children look at their little friends, because in the stories that Verushka draws with such perfection and mastery, children find friendly characters.
What was your childhood like?
I grew up in a house where there were lots of books, lots of classical music CDs, and I had wonderful parents who read books all the time, who got me reading from a young age. There was a huge library at home. I remember my father would sit me down and read stories to him, by Andersen, by Perrault, although my favourite was Carlo Collodi. That story of Pinocchio impressed me so much as a child that I read it more than once. It is still my favourite. They also put me in ballet classes, with one of the first women to open a dance academy in the country.
Did you like dancing?
I studied with a teacher named Margarita Lama, who taught Hindu dance, then I studied modern dance with Eduardo Villanueva, all of that was part of my artistic development and my approach to art in general.
How did your inclination towards drawing begin?
That started out as it probably does in most cases. First I would draw on the walls, then they bought me notebooks to sketch, until when I was a little older they enrolled me in fine arts. When my father died, my mother sat me down and asked me what career I was going to study, so I chose one that was offered at APEC. I enrolled in advertising graphic design, and I loved it, because it involved a lot of drawing and design, but I didn’t finish it, because there came a time when it seemed to me that I had already learned what I wanted to learn about that career. Then I got married. Once married and with children, I studied psychology, and I did finish that career. As a child and as a teenager, I drew more than I wrote. At school I made little packets by hand, which everyone read and passed around.
When was your first exhibition?
I participated in my first exhibition in the 90s, I think it was in 94, at Casa de Teatro, it was an exhibition called “Young Painting”, I won an honorable mention, at the María Ugarte I won another award, I did my first solo exhibition in 96, and that’s how this journey began.
What is the technique that you like the most?
Watercolour, once in London I received a prize for a work using that technique, from the Royal Society of Watercolourists, it is something that at first glance seems easy, but in truth it is not, I believe that mastering it is one of the most difficult things.
Which artists influenced your style the most?
When you are very young, at 19 or 20, you become interested in certain painters and their styles. I always liked the work of the Nicaraguan Armando Morales, the Mexican Francisco Toledo, Eleonora Carrington, I love her symbolism, Remedios Varro, too. On a trip to New York I was able to see the work of Paul Klee up close, which also impressed me a lot. Since he was a musician, there is a sensitivity in his works that is almost musical. Others, when I saw them live, disappointed me a little, like Salvador Dalí, who looks even better in books.
What was your first published book?
In 1998 my husband was appointed Minister Counselor in Germany, so we went to live there with a small daughter. It was a shocking change, from the tropics to a cold country in every sense of the word. It is a very organized place, the distance, the solitude, awaken special feelings, because there people live their lives more at home, because there is no need to go out to do paperwork or errands. From some sketches that I was making, Margarita and the Cloud emerged, an invention that I made so that my daughter, who did not want to eat, would eat. She asked me every day to tell her about it, so that was like the genesis of that book. I decided to do it in verse, but since I am not a poet, I asked my friend León David to write the poems for me, and we published it through Alfaguara. Up until a few years ago, it had sold more than nine thousand copies.
What other books have you published?
Then came Ana loves chocolate, for small children, then came Lucas, then Maxi has his zoo at home, then The Pianist Cat, which is a collection of cat adventures also illustrated by my daughter Paloma, and the last one is Caspar, the magician cat.
Do you think that more artistic education is needed in our educational system?
I always say that blessed are those children who are exposed to art early, be it dance, painting, drawing, music, because that allows them to develop their sensitivity. That boy or girl, with the guidance of good teachers who teach them to appreciate beauty, I dare say that it is very difficult for them to take the path of delinquency, because they will surely be a better human being in their adult life.
Childhood
I grew up in a house with lots of books, lots of classical music records, I had wonderful parents who read books all the time”
Watercolor
It is a technique that at first glance seems easy, but in truth it is not. I believe that mastering it is one of the most difficult things.
