Stella Berlanga
A brief sketch of an artist.
Painter, designer, sculptor, photographer, writer… and much more than all this, but over all her talents, there is a woman beyond her art.
Let´s go into Berlanga´s Universe.
We have divided this biography into three main parts:
Personal Gallery.
WHO IS STELLA BERLANGA?
Stella Berlanga was born in Valencia, Spain, in the fifties.
Her father was a military engineer, hero in the Spanish Civil War. Her mother was a professor of History, Literature and Philosophy.
As his father was also an awesome Architect and her mother a talented woman endowed with abilities in Painting and Drawing, Music (piano and violin) and all arts and cultural interests, both little girls, Hadda and Stella, the younger, grew up surrounded by books, pictures, pencils and paper.
It was in the post War years when the family went to America.
It was her mother the first one to realize the early intellectual faculties of little Stella who was able to read and write at three years old and also the incredible drawing capacities that appeared in her even before she walked, and she did it at 9 months. Her mother always reported how little Stella used to crawl as soon as daddy´s studio door was opened, and managed to climb to the drawing table to take his pencils.
Soon these drawings were recognizable, faces, horses, the sun, dogs and flowers. There was nothing more important to her…no interest in toys (except toy horses!) only drawing and drawing during hours…
Stella was always a brilliant student and even today she dedicates part of her time to write, read and study.
She studied Architecture, Literature, German and English Languages, Artistic Design, Zoology (her other strong passion) and Fine Arts. Nowadays her interests go on in these subjects but have been increased with Anthropology, Egyptology, Ancient History, Oenology and dog´s training and breeding.
For years Stella Berlanga painted, and designed. She also made sculptures and models for different Industry segments.
A poliphacetical personality she has also written books, movie plots and documental films, and has produced, directed and presented cultural and fashion programs for radio, TV and other media. She still does.
More than 200 books of several themes, hundreds of pictures, many of them portraits, designs for furniture and all kind of objects and accessories for the fashion industry and thousands of jewelry designs in her passionate figurative style, form part of her artistic patrimony.
One of her best known professional activities is her trajectory as designer of figurative Jewellry.
For years the Spanish Company Carrera & Carrera, was manufacturing her well-known and unmistakable designs of angels, mermaids, lovers, horses, dauphins, lions, panthers, elephants, Pegasus, gazelles, goats, dragons etc. together with botanical themes, gymkos, grapes, flowers, bamboo….Her creations for this industrial segment is something difficult to enumerate. She treasures an incredibly large amount on inedited collections of jewels, accessories and works of art.
Stella Berlanga is an influencer on the classic fashion world, deeply defender of classicism and elegance against passing stridencies.
A real stylist, she always pleads on discreet and sober dressing, leaving quality of materials and accessories to get the protagonisme of the ensembles.
Berlanga upholds the use and continuous acquisition of Jewellry, advising women to invest on gold, diamonds and precious stones with preference to other invest options, with the exceptions of Art, dogs and travelling!
HER WORK:
With so many interests in art, to enumerate them is a difficult task. We present here a small selection that will be renewed with regularity to please all her fans.
Painting is one of her most important and favorite specialties. Berlanga prefers oil on canvas, although she also masters watercolors, pastel, and all media in drawing technics.
Portraitism, perhaps the most difficult discipline in the world of Fine Arts, is her great specialty and what she enjoys and likes best. It is Berlanga´s natural expression and in the field she feels more comfortable with.
She uses to portrait from natural, with the commitent just in front of her, and she decides, not only the light and scenery but also the position and the best angle to be painted. Sometimes the client, especially women, changes her hairdo or tries to impose an artificial pose or attitude, and it is then when Berlanga with her professional point of view, advices and proposes a turn to a more natural apparel and the results are always successful!
Others of her interests are anatomy drawings and the studios on animals: horses, dogs, wolves, wild cats…
Sculpture is other of her passions. Bronze is her favorite material for medium and large pieces and silver and gold for medium to smalls ones. Her Jewellry, which she creates from her own designs, starts with her carving of the model and prototype in special waxes, that she casts in silver, to be finished into the final master. This process is very ancient, created, perhaps, before the Egyptian civilization and nowadays has been improved with modern systems of casting: lost wax or micro fusion.
It is also Portraitism in bronze one of Berlanga preferred expressions. In fact she was one of Alfonso´s favorite pupils. Alfonso Perez Plaza was one of the most renowned Spanish sculptors, also specialized in portraits.
Perhaps Jewellry is one of her most famous activities and the one she is internationally well-known for.
Her unmistakable and unique figurative style in Jewellry, featuring passionate love scenes, wild animals such as panthers, lions, elephants, dauphines, etc., have given her deservedly acclamation all around the world.
As a designer, her works have won innumerable awards.
Since Stella Berlanga set out on her own from Carrera & Carrera, keeps jealously her figurative jewelry for her own Firms in exclusive. With private Parties several times a year, in coincidence with seasons and International Jewelry shows, Berlanga keeps faithfully these dates by appointment and strict personal invitations.
PERSONAL GALLERY,
We have chosen a few images of her own private gallery, collected from friends and documentation files.
Stella Berlanga keeps her private life with hermetisme. As a matter of fact it is a contradictory circumstance how she shares theory and art advices, having even regular programs on TV and other media but custodies jealously, subjects concerning her real personality and life.
A deep passion for Nature and wild life is her best well-known facet. She considers animals her best and sole friends “The ones which never betray you”.
Classical music, together with Country and instrumental melodies (and chill-out!) are her favorite ones.
Ballet, theatre, opera, concerts and fast visits to museums and Art galleries get her spare time. But it is said by her closest circle, that she enjoys the peace of her gardens and feels that she is not missing anything staying at home with a few friends and her beloved dogs.
Walks through the countryside with her Great Danes on the sunset or a ride for the surrounding fields of her retreat are her most appreciated activities in her spare time.
Time has reduced her sporting life, but she still rides and goes on practicing her favorite sports: sword, falconry, archery and training dogs and horses.
Seasons also condition her activities all-round the year, trees plantation is a must for her, she considers it as a duty, a compromise. A complex task: germination, care, plantation. Each thing at its right time, keeps her rather busy.
Designing, modeling, painting, writing, reading, studying and also business meetings to manage and control her copyrights, also absorve a great part of her time.
Clues about her personal tastes about flowers, meals, colors, perfumes, books, holydays, movies…even political ideology, are all an absolute top secret.
Perhaps in a near future, we will be successful in enlarging information about her personality, but just at the moment, she affirms: “I am my Art”.
