Friday Artist Feature: Cristina Franco Roda, Spain

Artist: Cristina Franco Roda

Welcome to Friday Artist Features! On Fridays we often enjoy featuring an artist whose work often includes themes of urbanism and mobility.

Today we feature Cristina Franco Roda, an illustrator and painter based in Spain. Cristina shares that she always knew that she wanted to be an artist and considers drawing and painting to be powerful communication tools. In her illustrations she tries to cover problems that concern her, conveying a message of equality, empowerment, culture and sustainability through images of vivid colors.

Barcelona
Artist: Cristina Franco Roda

Does your city or town of residence inspire your work in anyway?

I usually work on the human figure and his environment, so cities sort of inspire me. I currently live in a very peaceful area of my city, surrounded by orchards and nature, and this positively influences my mood and way of creating.

Barcelona
Artist: Cristina Franco Roda

As a painter, I know how to work with all traditional means. Although, to be honest, my last years of work have focused on digital art. Knowing the techniques handy, I try to give a traditional style to my digital art works.

-Cristina on working with different mediums
Artist: Cristina Franco Roda

How do you move around the city and what is your favorite mode? 

I currently live in a quiet village in Murcia, my hometown, located in the southeast of Spain. The weather is generally very good, so I try to move by bicycle whenever I can. My city is not very big and walking or cycling is very comfortable.

Barcelona
Artist: Cristina Franco Roda

What is your favorite street or sidewalk space in your city of residence?

It would be very difficult to highlight just one place. The area I like most in my city is the most traditional part, where gardens abound. But if we speak in terms of urbanism, I will certainly say in Florence, a city in which I was fortunate to live during my years as a student and which I was totally in love with.

Artist: Cristina Franco Roda

I am currently focused on the human figure and his behavior, although sometimes I also give importance to landscapes and that includes urban landscape as well.

-Cristina on motifs
Barcelona
Artist: Cristina Franco Roda

Are there other pedestrian areas in your city you like to spend time in or appreciate?

Murcia has beautiful mountain areas and natural landscapes. They are perfect to spend the day and disconnect from routine and work. Also, its beautiful beaches are a wonderful to enjoy.

Barcelona
Artist: Cristina Franco Roda

What challenges, as well as opportunities, do you see with issues of walkability in your city?

Unfortunately, public transport does not work as well as it should, leaving nearby areas with no opportunity for sustainable mobility and forcing people to use their cars in order to get around.

In recent years there has been a greater awareness and intention to change this on the part of our leaders, placing more emphasis on bike lanes and pedestrian areas, but in my opinion it is still not enough.

Visit Cristina online at:

https://menganitadecual.com/