H.G. Caramuso

   Caramuso was born and lived in Yugoslavia and when he was 18 years old, he moved to Hungary. He spent time studying there and worked there some years before moving to London, where he’s been for the past 8 years.

 

   Caramuso says, “Originally I am a machine engineer. But art was very close to me all the time. In primary school when I was about 14 years old, I made one artwork and in one art competition I won first place in Yugoslavia.”

After that his art career just stopped. He says, “To be honest I do not know why… But I know that it was maybe a lack of support from outside. I was quite sure that I was not talented enough to make any artworks. I just do not have that ability of drawing or painting. Most of my life, I lived with this frustration.”

 

   But Caramuso was quite close to art all the time. He was doing amateur photography for quite a number of years. 

   

   Just last year, in 2014, he says, “I read about a lady, who fell down from the stairs and suddenly she just started to draw nicely. It was one photo of her drawing. It was a dog. I was surprised and I told myself I am able to draw like she does… and so, I just started.”

   So he bought pencils and paper and “killed” any free time he had with drawing. He would start with mostly eyes, lips, landscapes, mountains…simple things… and was happy with the result. “I bought a charcoal set as well,” he says, “and I started to learn from books and from the internet….mostly from YouTube.”

   

   One day earlier this year, just by chance, he caught a program on BBC about an amateur painting competition. “I was very happy,” he says. “It was a big pleasure to watch that program…and I decided to start painting.”

 

   And so his art life began! 

 

   He generally uses watercolors and acrylics now, and enjoys painting still life scenes and landscapes.

 

   Caramuso says, “I describe myself as a very, very amateur self-taught artist.”

 

CHARLIE O'SHIELDS (DOODLEWASH.COM)