Concha García Zaera
Spanish internet artist (1930–2023)
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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]