coloricombo/ Vases and Vessels Prompt 4

This week Este chose to use a beautiful illustration by the Portuguese artist Maria Keil who, alongside painting and illustration, was especially recognised for her tile work. In fact, if you’ve ever travelled on the Lisbon Metro, it’s likely that you’ve walked past one or more of Keil’s azulejos panels.

Keil (1914-2012) was born in Silves, Portugal and studied briefly at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts before dropping out due to her dissatisfaction with the course. She married the architect Francisco Keil do Amaral and joined the Technical Advertising Studio where she worked alongside a number of other artists, the majority identifying as Modernists.

The Portuguese had been a dictatorship since the mid-1920s and Modernism’s ethos of rejecting the past was embraced by the authorities. After the establishment of the Estado Novo (the New State, which was in existence until 1974) they funded numerous public art commissions.

Keil collaborated with her husband, who was the metro system architect, and created vibrant azulejos for Lisbon’s stations from the 1950s through to the 1970s. Her designs helped to transform numerous public spaces in the city and continue to be admired today.

Aside from her tile work, Keil was a prolific illustrator mainly of children’s books, and a painter. In a career spanning over six decades she received a multitude of honours. The Museum of the Presidency of the Republic organised a retrospective exhibition covering her work in 2013 and the Biblioteca Maria Keil in Lisbon was named for her.

Colour Combination

The colours for this week’s prompt are Deep Orange, Eau de Nil, Thunder Cloud & Mud. Use the #coloricombo colours along with any neutral light and dark colour to create an artwork in any medium and style. 

September’s theme is “Vase”. You can use this as topic and create in any way as you wish, using the week’s colours in any medium and style.

I love to see what you do with the coloricombo colours. If you’d like to share your work, please tag #coloricombo #colorivase and #estemacleod and @lorisiebert.studio on social media.