Born in Algeciras in 1965, he was a sailor from a
young age and was as enthusiastic about drawing
and painting as he was about nature, he dedicated
himself to the enhancement of nature through pain-
ting and illustration and often the painting of marine
landscapes. He has written innumerable publications
in various languages such as nature guides, ecotou-
rism guides, information panels, graphic magazines,
books, etc. He has exhibited his works in both group
and solo exhibitions across the country and his wor-
ks hang on many a wall around the world. Currently,
he continues to work in his beloved Straits of Tarifa,
promoting the natural values of this paradisiacal area
to the world through his art in order to protect it. His
motto is “Working for, with and in the Straits”.
You were born in Algeciras, what memories do
you have of Algeciras from your childhood?
The memories I most cherish are of one of the
beaches in Rinconcillo, which at the time was less
strangled by the port – a place that our city now has a
love / hate relationship with. I used to spend my days
and the occasional summer night visiting the beach
and bathing in its waters. I remember looking out of
the window of my classroom at the Marinero Javier
Cervera School and seeing flocks of Flamingos, Eura-
sian spoonbills and Cattle egrets flying towards the
estuary of the Palmones river and imagining where
they had come from. And I very much remember the
mountains and pine forests near our home that have
now been replaced by housing estates, and excur-
sions to have picnics near the secluded chapel which
is now practically in the city centre.
When did your interest in art start?
My interest in art, specifically painting, was born
from a place that exists in all of us, I believe that it
is something inherently human, but that most of us
abandon it. My mother would give me pencils and
a notebook so that I could entertain myself, and
that’s where it all started. I loved to copy drawings
from the comic of the great Ibañez or from Marvel
superhero comics and it became, over anything else,
a worthwhile and even my best form of expression.
Immediately I began to draw the nature that I loved
so much, due to the mere need to communicate it.
What artistic studies have you done or are you
self-taught?
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I am self-taught because I did not have the oppor-
tunity to study art or biology, which was what I most
enjoyed. From an early age I embarked down a path
with the hope of being like my elders and working at
sea and when I finally realised what I really wanted to
do I could not retrace my steps. I always made great
use of pencils and pens until at one stage of my life
I took hold of paintbrushes and just “exploded” and
I have never been able, or wanted to let go of them,
they became my own peculiar way of living life.
What inspires you when it comes to painting?
Nature is always the axis of everything that inspi-
res me, beauty, love, injustice, longing, etc. Everything
is related to it, I can see the similarity between people
and birds in, for example, migration - something that I
believe is always legal, natural and necessary. Or be-
tween my own town’s fishing trade and the beautiful
and rare ospreys that fish in the estuary of the Pal-
mones river. I also always try to assert the problems
facing different species and ecosystems through my
paintings; however, I also try to make the paintings
artistically beautiful.
How did your nickname “Espintapajaros”
(Spanish play on words: ‘Espantapajaros’ means
Scarecrow, ‘pintar’ means to paint) come about?
It was very simple once I had asked myself the
question in the third person - who or what is Nico-
las? The answer was obvious ... a ‘Pinta Pájaros’ (bird
painter). The anagram being a scarecrow that loves
and paints birds.
How do you rate the artistic landscape of the
Campo de Gibraltar?
The world of so-called ‘Wildlife Art’ or ‘Nature
Art’ is not particularly in good health, both in our re-
gion and in our country, its only saving grace is some
commissioned painting and to a greater extent illus-
trations at a national and international level for edu-
cational purposes. But those of us dedicated to it are,
at our core, naturalists and will always continue to
promote it.
You have a great interest in the environment.
What do you think should be done to protect the
environment in general terms?
I think that by the time we realise that the environ-
ment protects us it will be late for us, although the
planet will heal. It is painful but I am a recalcitrant
pessimist, each day human beings reinforce that
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