Speaker 1: Hi. This is Malayan Vervier and this is Kim Azzarelli.
Speaker 1: We are co authors of the book Fast Forward, How
Speaker 1: Women can Achieve Power and Purpose, And you're listening to
Speaker 1: Seneca's Conversations on Power and Purpose. Hey. Everyone, this is
Speaker 1: Kim Azarelli and I am so excited to be hosting
Speaker 1: this special edition Women Rule Web three. Now. The world
Speaker 1: of Web three is moving so fast from the metaverse
Speaker 1: to defy two NFTs. On this show, we'll break it
Speaker 1: down for you through interviews with incredible leaders, experts, and artists. Today,
Speaker 1: I'm speaking with Mercedes de Ballard. She's a digital illustrator
Speaker 1: based in Spain. Renowned for her expressive portraiture. Mercedes specializes
Speaker 1: in beautifully crafted illustrations filled with vibrant colors that have
Speaker 1: really come to define her personal style. I sat down
Speaker 1: with Mercedes to talk about her latest work. Here's what
Speaker 1: she has to say. Well, Mercedes, thanks so much for
Speaker 1: joining us. Hello, thank you, thank you very much for
Speaker 1: inviting me. So we are really excited about the piece
Speaker 1: that you've contributed. The two pieces you've contributed to The
Speaker 1: Seneca Woman a quality collection and I can't wait to
Speaker 1: talk about them. But I want to begin by asking
Speaker 1: you a little bit about your background. You know, where
Speaker 1: are you from and when did you realize you were
Speaker 1: an artist? Well, I'm from Spain. I'm struct me from
Speaker 1: the soap of Spain, from a little town, and I
Speaker 1: used to be fine art when I was in university.
Speaker 1: And from that I think I knew I was to
Speaker 1: be an illustrator or an artist. And when did you
Speaker 1: start getting into an fts? I know these were like yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe last year and I was like, wow, this is
Speaker 1: so big and different from I'm doing from this year.
Speaker 1: So so I started to create my first NFT and
Speaker 1: since now I'm here, Wow, Well, your artwork is just
Speaker 1: incredible and the human face predominates in your work and
Speaker 1: your images are extremely alive and engaging. How would you
Speaker 1: describe your style and what are you trying to achieve
Speaker 1: with these images? I think I would say it's quite realistic,
Speaker 1: like I think it's obvious, but at the same time,
Speaker 1: I like to mix h this portrait with some elements
Speaker 1: that makes me maybe they image like more dreamlike elements,
Speaker 1: like some some plans, something r natural to make like
Speaker 1: a medical portrait. It's not just like the reality. I
Speaker 1: like to add more things to them as though. I
Speaker 1: love to you saturate colors that are great, like a
Speaker 1: strong constist, and I think they give strength to the
Speaker 1: today image. I love to think that they never leave
Speaker 1: you indifferent. I know if I kind of explain myself
Speaker 1: very well. Yes, And not only can you explain yourself well,
Speaker 1: but I think you've achieved your goal because your art
Speaker 1: is magical, so you do achieve that magic and that
Speaker 1: dreamlike state, and you it is very difficult to leave indifferent.
Speaker 1: So I feel like you've It's really interesting to hear
Speaker 1: that that's your goal, because that is the effect it's
Speaker 1: had on me. You've done a serious of portraits called Legends.
Speaker 1: Who are some of the women in them? And why
Speaker 1: did you pick them? Yeah? I Drew, Patty Smithson and
Speaker 1: Gwenhouse and I drove them because, first of all, because
Speaker 1: I love their music but me too, But it's also
Speaker 1: because I think that they were and they are great
Speaker 1: woman and great artists too, who made their own way
Speaker 1: in the world of the music that I think it's
Speaker 1: very difficult because almost there is a man world. It's
Speaker 1: difficult for a woman to tune in this world. But
Speaker 1: they make that very well and in different very of
Speaker 1: all the history, so I think the three of them
Speaker 1: was very would econ for the diployants, Yeah, no, you
Speaker 1: picked amazing women. I love their work as well. We'll
Speaker 1: be back after this break. And so you started getting
Speaker 1: into NFTs. Obviously your a portrait artist, as a woman
Speaker 1: and as an artist. What have you found the benefits
Speaker 1: of being in the NFT world. I think I will
Speaker 1: say that the most important is that you can create
Speaker 1: your own words without any briefing at any direction, and
Speaker 1: you can work with total freedom. So that's quite liberating
Speaker 1: for any artist. I think so. But because most of
Speaker 1: the time and all the DS I've been working like
Speaker 1: an illustrato, I always have directions and very briefings, very
Speaker 1: very tight, so you can never work like with your
Speaker 1: total freedoms. So this is a great space to feel
Speaker 1: like you can work or whatever you want. So that's
Speaker 1: very good for an artist. Did you find a big
Speaker 1: change in your career when you started getting into digital art? Oh?
Speaker 1: I think so. For me, it's very recently because I
Speaker 1: have been an illustrator for almost ten years ago, so
Speaker 1: this is like a big change, and I think it's different,
Speaker 1: of course, and I'm feeling now this, you know, this change. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it must be pretty amazing too. We've we've
Speaker 1: actually interviewed a few other the other artists for the collection,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's a pretty radical change in one's
Speaker 1: life to be able to distribute globally, to not have
Speaker 1: a middleman, as you said before, to have the creativity
Speaker 1: and the space to do what you want. So I'm
Speaker 1: sure it's pretty liberating and also just very different. Yes, exactly. Yes,
Speaker 1: So for the collection, you really surprised us when we
Speaker 1: saw the portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, one of my
Speaker 1: personal idols, which I'll tell you about in a minute,
Speaker 1: But tell us what you wanted to convey and why
Speaker 1: you chose RBG and what you were trying to convey
Speaker 1: with that image. I'm first of all, I want to
Speaker 1: say that I'm very happy because I was little thread
Speaker 1: because I was I wasn't sure if you guys will
Speaker 1: coppy with this, but I always want to draw the roof,
Speaker 1: and I felt like that is the perfect occasion to
Speaker 1: draw her because obviously I think this is a very
Speaker 1: important eco in the woman's movement, right, so I thought
Speaker 1: she's perfect for this projects to illustrate equalities. So I
Speaker 1: think Okay, I'm going to draw her, and also as
Speaker 1: I want to do my little tribute to her for
Speaker 1: all her aptivements, and I think I thought, okay, I
Speaker 1: have to draw her. Well, it's so personal to us
Speaker 1: because we had Seneca women for many years have been
Speaker 1: working with different women on the Supreme Court, Justice O'Connor,
Speaker 1: Justice so of Mayor, and in fact Justice Ginsburg, and
Speaker 1: about five or six years ago we had done a
Speaker 1: tribute to Justice O'Connor, and because Justice Ginsburg was the
Speaker 1: most senior female member of the Court, we had all
Speaker 1: the four women Supreme Court justices together at that time,
Speaker 1: which was they'd only been together a few times in
Speaker 1: their entire tenure. And Justice Ginsburg gave the speech, and
Speaker 1: then afterwards she wrote me a note which is one
Speaker 1: of my prize possessions, which basically said, you know, there
Speaker 1: are a few moments in your life that exceed your expectations,
Speaker 1: and your tribute to Justice O'Connor exceeded mine. And I
Speaker 1: literally wanted to put it under my pillow and sleep
Speaker 1: on it every night. So when I saw your RBG image,
Speaker 1: I really couldn't believe it. It really it brings everything
Speaker 1: full circle. So thank you for that. Now, speaking of circles,
Speaker 1: you also did an open addition for Seneca Women another image,
Speaker 1: another beautiful portrait. Maybe you want to describe it, but
Speaker 1: why did you choose this image of hands and the
Speaker 1: wreath for the Seneca Women open edition item to create
Speaker 1: another image that it wasn't a purchased So I have
Speaker 1: these images in my head like a few hands two
Speaker 1: can something that it forms a cycle and like for me,
Speaker 1: it means like we need each other to build the
Speaker 1: future we want. So it's more like the unity between
Speaker 1: all of all of us and that we need each
Speaker 1: other to create what we want. Yeah, that's I want
Speaker 1: to create something beautiful and something that I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's worked very well. It really does convey this
Speaker 1: feeling of women supporting women and the feeling of unity.
Speaker 1: I think you really achieved it, and we're so excited
Speaker 1: because that at Peace we're going to make available to
Speaker 1: anybody who wants to be part of the Seneca Women community,
Speaker 1: and we're going to donate the proceeds of that of
Speaker 1: the net proceeds of that piece to support women in
Speaker 1: the Ukraine who really need our support right now. And
Speaker 1: so I think your piece really illustrates what it means
Speaker 1: for women to support other women and this unity that
Speaker 1: could really change the trajectory of our future if women
Speaker 1: could really continue to help each other in the ways
Speaker 1: that we know we can. So thank you so much
Speaker 1: for that. I think people are going to just love
Speaker 1: to be part of that collective. You're welcomely, what's up
Speaker 1: place for me? So well? This has been amazing to
Speaker 1: have you part of the collection is truly an honor.
Speaker 1: We have six incredible women artists and our listeners can
Speaker 1: check it out at senecawomen dot com. These pieces will
Speaker 1: be dropping on April twenty fifth at six thirty on
Speaker 1: nifty Gateway, so come join us for one hour. We
Speaker 1: will have the ability to participate and to buy this
Speaker 1: incredible work. So Mercedes, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1: Thank you to you Kim for inviting me. And it
Speaker 1: was really a place or for me. I love talking
Speaker 1: with Mercedes. Her work is truly magical and we're so
Speaker 1: delighted with the Seneca Women Open Edition piece that she's created.
Speaker 1: Go to Seneca Women dot com to see her work
Speaker 1: and the other amazing artists in the Seneca Women Equality
Speaker 1: Collection and join us next time for Another Women Rule
Speaker 1: Web three Conversation. Have a great day. You're listening to
Speaker 1: Seneca Women Conversations on power and purpose, brought to you
Speaker 1: by the Seneca Women Podcast Network and iHeartRadio with support
Speaker 1: from founding partner of P and G. If you'd like
Speaker 1: to join the Seneca Women Network, go to Seneca Women
Speaker 1: dot com. There you'll get access to exclusive events and workshops,
Speaker 1: plus updates on new podcasts and other opportunities to get involved.