Celeste Maia

Born in Mozambique in 1941, Celeste Maia studied in Mozambique, South Africa, France and the United States. She painted and exhibited in the various countries where he lived, such as the United States, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, Spain, and Italy, among others. She held two travelling exhibitions in Asia-India, Thailand, China, Korea and Japan.

In the year 2000, she published an art book about her career as a painter, As Festas Secretas. From 2006 to 2008 Maia wrote, in Portuguese and in English, and illustrated three children's books – O Quadro Que Não Quer Acabar, O Cão Que Joga Xadrez, and Nicolas & Nyoka. O Quadro Que Não Quer Acabar received the Ler Mais award from the Portuguese National Reading Plan.

In 2009, a new abstract phase appeared in Maia's painting, at the same time that she began to work with watercolours. In 2010 she was a fellow of the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, spending six weeks in the Foundation's 15th-century castle in Umbria. There she continued to work, on a large scale, in watercolour-painted abstracts. It was a very stimulating six weeks, between socializing with the other extraordinary scholarship holders, from all over the world, and the many visits to the beautiful frescoes by Piero della Francesca that can be found throughout that Italian region.

Upon returning to Madrid in November 2010, Maia received a commission from the Spanish firm Colomer & Sons to paint 20 exclusive high-quality watches. It was a considerable challenge. Maia spent months researching themes and submitted over 200 ideas on paper until it was decided that Tempo would be the ideal theme. But what is Time? Read more in the Pulse Art section.

Maia loves to travel the world, discover new countries, and get lost in other cultures, other cuisines, other sounds. Above all, what she likes on these trips is being able to observe and photograph people in their routines. The place in her heart will always remain Mozambique, where all her dreams will end up.

She currently lives in Madrid.