Frequently Asked Questions
Why Poemas Eternos?
Spanish is my native language and the language in which I began writing creatively at the age of six. “Poemas eternos” means “eternal poems.” If one day the grid goes down, computers will be useless but typewriters will keep on typing.
Shouldn’t the “o” in “eternos” match the “a” in “poemas”?
People who know a little Spanish have asked this question. The word for poem, “poema,” though it ends in “a,” is masculine (from the Greek poēma). Therefore, the adjective that accompanies it (eternos) is masculine as well.
Where do you draw inspiration for your pieces and what is your process like?
For the pieces with original poetry, I draw ideas from my observations of simple events of everyday life. I compose the words of the poem while I start thinking of objects and design ideas that would go well with those words. I also look for poems of writers I like and quote their work, combining it with my own design ideas. I sketch and layout my ideas on the page and then start executing them with the typewriter that best fits the style or concept of the piece. Typically, a piece goes through five to eight iterations before it finds itself at its best.
For the limited-edition greeting cards, I start by scanning the original piece and then use a software for color correcting, cleaning up some of the natural imperfections of the typewritten text and laying the piece out -- this last phase of the process is the only one that requires me to sit at my computer.
Why Poemas Eternos?
Spanish is my native language and the language in which I began writing creatively at the age of six. “Poemas eternos” means “eternal poems.” If one day the grid goes down, computers will be useless but typewriters will keep on typing.
Shouldn’t the “o” in “eternos” match the “a” in “poemas”?
People who know a little Spanish have asked this question. The word for poem, “poema,” though it ends in “a,” is masculine (from the Greek poēma). Therefore, the adjective that accompanies it (eternos) is masculine as well.
Where do you draw inspiration for your pieces and what is your process like?
For the pieces with original poetry, I draw ideas from my observations of simple events of everyday life. I compose the words of the poem while I start thinking of objects and design ideas that would go well with those words. I also look for poems of writers I like and quote their work, combining it with my own design ideas. I sketch and layout my ideas on the page and then start executing them with the typewriter that best fits the style or concept of the piece. Typically, a piece goes through five to eight iterations before it finds itself at its best.
For the limited-edition greeting cards, I start by scanning the original piece and then use a software for color correcting, cleaning up some of the natural imperfections of the typewritten text and laying the piece out -- this last phase of the process is the only one that requires me to sit at my computer.
